Hazardous Effects of Soft Drinks on Human Body - Essay Example

Hazardous Effects of Soft Drink on Human Body It is an undeniable truth that soft drinks have become well-loved and patronized by the majority in several nations and has had its share of rising popularity especially among people below 40 whose consumption far exceeds the RDA for sweet foods and beverages. This is specifically alarming and pertinent to the Americans, being one of the high end-users where each American averages 212 liters of soda pop yearly (Taylor). To imagine this figure, multiplied by the cola drinking population of the U.S., would equate to a contributing volume that outweighs the rest in the world wide consumption. While there are no acknowledged health benefits in carbonated drinks, several attributes of the product account for the capital ground people buy into as good taste, refreshment, symbol of social status, or one that goes with ordinary meals as plain drink alternative. Since drinking soft drink has become a normal part of regular diet, consumers lose capability of seeing beyond prospective experience of the product and stimulating commercials which orient a viewer’s paradigm to a context in favor of the commodity. Advertisements and label positioning could easily make them turn blind awareness to the chemical nature a soft drink is. As it primarily does not contain any nutritive value, not that science on nutrition has discovered in terms of essential nutrients as vitamin, mineral, fiber, or protein. A number of adverse effects may be cited on examining each chief ingredient that plays a definitive role in constituting the hazardous impacts. Phosphoric acid being one of the main constituents in the soda beverage, causes phosphate levels in the blood to rise thereby dissolving the bones as calcium is drawn out three or four times faster than it is deposited into them as suggested by phosphorus-calcium ratio in the average American diet. This prolonged decrease in bone mass due to demineralization when phosphorus replaces calcium, leads to rickets in children, osteomalacia (decreased bone calcium) in adults, development of osteoarthritis, and osteoporosis (Murray and Pizzorno). Phosphoric acid in soft drinks has about the same acidity as that of vinegar which when mixed with bodily fluids (as gastric juice) in high amounts, interferes in the normal digestion, becomes corrosive to stomach linings, and upsets alkaline-acid balance in the kidneys which at times, proceeds to the formation of kidney stones. With low Ca-P ratio in the diet, heavy cola drinkers are also prone to the incidence of hypertension and the risk of having colon-rectal cancer (Murray and Pizzorno) besides the aforementioned effects and the likelihood of tooth rot, periodontal disease and gingivitis. While phosphates share a huge part in all these unfavorable consequences, on the same level, caffeine leaches calcium out of the body by breaking its tolerance for drinking milk, hence keeping it off a youngster’s diet in particular. It furthers threat for the developing brains of children and adolescents via disturbing the neuro-chemical processes in the brain. This particular effect on mental health is evident through withdrawal symptoms which not only include headache, according to Dr. R. Griffiths of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Other signs register in having fatigue, mild depression, muscle pain and stiffness, feeling feverish, nausea, and vomiting when dependence on soft drinks becomes established due to the incorporated narcotic substance to sustain drinker’s addiction toward the product (Murray and Pizzorno). The truth, however, has been masked by certain manufacturers in claiming through their commercials that caffeine’s bitter taste in a soft drink is the reason consumers crave the beverage for. Moreover, caffeine is a known weak diuretic, leading to calcium loss via the kidneys. In general, people who indulge in caffeinated soda pops are self-diagnosed to suffer from insomnia, high blood pressure, irregular heartbeat and jitters, elevated blood cholesterol levels, breast lumps, and reduced chance of fertility in women aside from mineral depletion and certain forms of cancer still under thorough studies. As much as caffeine and acid do, sugars, more preferably referred to as high-fructose corn syrup in cola beverages strike yet another peril on the specified vulnerable physiological areas by enhancing the actions of the other two. For one, sugar-acid mixture easily dissolves tooth enamel, resulting to cavities and decay. According to research conducted by Dr. Moses Elisaf of the University of Ioannina in Greece, there is a huge probability that the three active cola ingredients namely glucose, caffeine and fructose collaborate to deplete potassium levels, the condition being identified as hypokalemia (Taylor). One concrete example, based on a report by IJCP (International Journal of Clinical Practice) is the Australian ostrich farmer whose average daily intake of cola beverage went from 4 liters to 10 liters to slake thirst whenever he was out for kangaroo hunting. Because of this habit, he suddenly developed muscle-weakening which worsened to respiratory deterioration, when potassium in his blood dropped to dangerously low levels (Taylor). The situation required intense medication and was fortunately restored to normal upon cutting back on his consumption. By raising levels of insulin, sugars contained in carbonated drinks menace consumer health at the brink of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, and diabetes which are proven to be fatal under severe conditions. All fructose is taken up by the liver where it is completely metabolized and turned into fats. Latest findings show that animals on high-fructose diets develop liver problems similar to those of alcoholics. An Israeli study in the August 2009 Journal of Hapatology reported that fructose brings about cirrhosis of the liver and liver cancer. Cola sugar was also detected, in a separate experiment, to have been able to impair the white blood cells’ ability to ingest and kill gonococcal bacteria within seven hours. Large quantities of this additive are also associated with poor development of collagen in growing animals, especially in the context of copper deficiency (Valentine). Through a British medical journal, The Lancet, a team of Harvard researchers presented the first evidence of childhood obesity related to soft drink consumption and discovered that twelve-year olds who drank soft drinks compared to the ones who didn’t, on a regular basis, were more liable at getting obese (Squires). For each additional daily serving of sugar-sweetened soft drink consumed during the nearly two-year study, the risk of obesity increased 1.6 times (Squires). The same journal had reported in January 2008 a study that linked gout increase due to excessive fructose intake through soft drinks in the earlier decades. Even soda pops labeled as diet carbonated drinks do not hold exception for possessing sugar substitutes, which many advertisers for the industry would commodify as bearing the opposite effect, connoting either ‘healthy’ or ‘fat-free’. Little do consumers know that sugar substitutes break into toxins. Aspartame, for instance, when stored for long time periods and kept in warm areas, transforms to methanol, an alcohol that converts to formaldehyde and formic acid, which are known carcinogens (Oleda). Formaldehyde is linked to breast cancer, damage to memory proteins in the brain, and multiple sclerosis. Over 92 different health side effects are associated with aspartame consumption including brain tumors, birth defects, emotional disorders, and epilepsy or seizures (Oleda). Aspartame is recognized as both a potent neurotoxin and an endocrine disrupter. A much older artificial sweetener, saccharin, is believed to be a substitute that does not break down in the human body, like sucralose. It is a non-nutritive, non-caloric petroleum derivative, estimated to be 300 to 500 times sweeter than sugar. At doses as low as the equivalent of one to two bottles of diet pop daily, carcinogenic effects of saccharin have revealed, through animal tests, to target female reproductive organs, bladder and neighboring sites (Murray and Pizzorno). Contrary to the common belief that soft drinks are able to quench thirst or provide the body with any real energy, in truth, the relief acquired on drinking it is brief and as the body responds by utilizing its water to process ample amounts of sugar, dehydration follows (Nayab). No matter how long one would have to bear for this and the other major effects to manifest, the components of soft drink are on their way to progress, awaiting a peak or an event of sudden breakdown as threats accumulate to growing details from each system part they place on victim’s spot. There is clearly no way individuals may drink to health when every side of drinking cola turns out hazardous as shown. Works Cited Taylor, Rupert. “Drinking Too Much Cola Unhealthy.” suite101.com. 21 May 2009. Web. 16 Apr. 2010. Naseer, Nayab. “Health Effects of Soft Drinks Consumption.” suite101.com. 15 Apr. 2010. Web. 16 Apr. 2010. Oleda and Company. “Dangers of Soda Pop (Carbonated Soft Drinks).” Oleda’s Tip. Oleda and Company. 1996-2009. Web. 16 Apr. 2010. Murray ND, Michael, and Joseph Pizzorno ND. “The Health Effects of Drinking Soda.” IonLife. IonLife Inc., 2009. Web. 16 Apr. 2010. Valentine, Judith. “Soft Drinks: America’s Other Drinking Problem.” Straight Talk. Art Without Boundaries Association. 2005. Web. 16 Apr. 2010. Squires, Sally. “The Facts, Stats and Dangers of Soda Pop.” preventdisease.com. Aug. 2004. Web. 16 Apr. 2010. Read More