Soft drinks (Cola and others) popular everywhere
In most countries of the world, soft drinks dominate the market. Everyone of us drinks them or has already consumed them once. Now there is a study from America showing that soft drinks made with artificial sugar or artificial sugar substitutes can destroy bones from the inside out. The worst part is, we don't even notice anything until it's too late.
Why are soft drinks so dangerous?
Many different researchers and dieticians say that these sugary soft drinks are the main cause of obesity all over the world (read more). This is unfortunately not too far-fetched, considering that more than 3/4 of the content consists of sugar (please see the explanation here). Ultimately, we drink pure sugar with a dash of soda. As you can see in the explanation, most soft drinks contain between 10 and 30 sugars, depending on the size of the soft drink. The problem is that they are artificially produced sugars that catapult the blood sugar level skyrocketing! This means that insulin can be rapidly released. It is no secret that this process is not necessarily one of the healthiest in our body.
What damages our bones?
Coca-Cola, Pepsi and Co not only contain masses of artificial sugar, but also a chemical known as phosphoric acid. The contained phosphoric acid enters our intestine shortly after drinking. This is where the real disaster happens. Phosphoric acid binds magnesium, zinc and calcium. As a result, the nutrients are no longer transported to the bones as usual, but are washed out of the body in the acid bound via the urine.
As most soft drink manufacturers use these toxic ingredients, it can cause the health of our bones to suffer as a result. The daily consumption of sugary soft drinks will literally cause our bones to rot from within! In a group of women who drank an average of six glasses of lemonade per day for a period of six weeks, it was found that women had to lose between 3-6% of their bone mineral density. The decrease in bone mineral density was lower for Light and Zero products, but diet versions also led to a decrease in bone mineral density.
The lack of calcium
This phosphoric acid is bad for all of us. However, this issue is particularly alarming among young people. Most young people consume all kinds of soft drinks every day. The big problem is that our eating habits have changed a lot. Nowadays, 9 out of 10 young people consume far too little calcium in their diet. This means that young people cannot afford to drink so many soft drinks. This results in a higher risk of fractures and ultimately also bone diseases such as osteoporosis.
Further consequences
This is just the tip of the iceberg. Soft drinks increase the risk of tooth decay as phosphoric acid attacks the enamel. Without enamel, our teeth no longer have any protection, bacteria can unfold freely and destroy our teeth. You can also look forward to increased risk of chronic kidney disease and kidney stones by consuming Pepsi, Coca-Cola and Co. This is due to the high amounts of phosphoric acid.