Natural sparkling water has been known for its healing properties since ancient times. In medieval Europe, sparkling water was extracted from water sources and transported to cities. Since it was very expensive, people tried to figure out how to optimize the production processes and gain maximum economic benefits.
And now many factories produce huge amounts of various types of fizzy drinks and add carbon dioxide to them. Carbon dioxide is a preservative and is designated as E290 on the packaging.
Salted carbonated water consumption is beneficial for health since such water saturates the body with electrolytes and soft drinks, on the contrary, can seriously harm your body. Let’s review 10 ways fizzy drinks affect our health.
Asthma
Sodium benzoic acid which is contained in soft drinks is used as a preservative in food products. Sodium-based preservatives also contained in soda reduce the amount of potassium in the body. As a result, some people develop a reaction to sodium in the form of relapsing urticaria, asthma, and eczema.Heart disease
Most sweet sodas contain large amounts of high fructose corn syrup. This syrup was associated with an increased risk of metabolic syndrome (an increase in visceral fat mass, a decrease in the sensitivity of peripheral tissues to insulin, and hyperinsulinemia that disrupt carbohydrate, lipid, and purine metabolism) which in turn increases the risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease.Osteoporosis
Sweet carbonated drinks contain a large amount of phosphoric acid. Excessive phosphoric acid consumption leads to bone disorders including osteoporosis. When phosphoric acid is excreted along with urine, it leaches the body’s calcium and essential minerals.Dental Disease and Tooth Loss
Sugar and acid which are contained in soft drinks destroy tooth enamel. When tooth decay advances to the nerves and roots, the tooth remains without “nutrition” and simply dies. In addition to caries, soft drinks lead to acute gum disease.
Fizzy drinks can even lead to tooth loss. A man from Ireland named Michael Sheridan consumed about 6 liters of soft drink per day and as a result, lost his 27 teeth that had to be replaced with dental implants.Digestive Problems
“Experimental evidence suggests that high blood sugar and frequent consumption of sugary drinks can break the intestinal barrier, causing intestinal inflammation, altering the intestinal microbiota, and increasing susceptibility to intestinal infections. This may provoke digestive diseases” - says Sharon Horesh Bergquist, associate professor of medicine at Emory University in Atlanta.Fatty Liver Disease
Scientists confirmed that regular consumption of fizzy drinks can cause degeneration of liver cells which is accompanied by blood sugar spikes after drinking a soft drink. These cells get filled with fat and lose their function.Increase in Visceral Fat
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute has experimentally proven that consumption of soft sugary drinks is associated with abnormal visceral adipose tissue.
The experiment involved 1,000 middle-aged people. They consumed sugary drinks for six years. The participants in the study measured the amount of visceral fat in the body before and after the experiment. As a result, it was found that people who consumed sugary soft drinks every day had more than 852 milliliters of internal fat. Compared with this group of subjects, those who did not drink sweet drinks had 30 percent less visceral fat (about 600 milliliters). In those who consumed soda once a week, the amount of visceral fat increased to 707 milliliters.Kidney problems
According to the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, sweet soda significantly increases the risk of urolithiasis.
Scientists were able to find out during the study that frequent consumption of sugary soft drinks often causes kidney stones. It was found that sweet soda drinkers who consumed more than one serving daily were at 23% higher risk of kidney stones than patients who drank soda only once a week. It should be noted that similar results were noted among sweet non-fizzy drink lovers. Meanwhile, coffee, orange juice, and green tea reduce the risk of kidney stones.Pancreatitis
The pancreas doesn’t tolerate carbonated drinks, no to mention other organs of the digestive system. Bubbles of carbon dioxide have a strong irritating effect on the walls of the stomach and intestines, but at the same time cause inflammation of the pancreas. Sugary soft drinks are considered to be the most dangerous, since in addition to gas, they contain a huge amount of harmful substances, such as sweeteners, preservatives, and flavorings which cause inflammatory damage to the digestive tract and pancreatitis in particular.Diabetes
British doctors have found that frequent consumption of soft drinks leads to diabetes not only in obese people who are predisposed to insulin deficiency but also in healthy and thin people.
Almost 184 thousand people die from soda drinks every year. Most people died from diabetes caused by fizzy drinks. Approximately 45 thousand people died from heart disease and another 6.5 thousand died from cancer.