NOT! (Nursing Open Thread) is a community forum hosted by Nurse Kelley to provide folks with a regularly-scheduled interactive place to discuss their health problems, share remedies that have worked for them, seek suggestions, or raise bloody hell about their situation. Everyone is welcome to participate and lively discussion is encouraged. Nurse Kelley's only rule is this: Be kind.♥
When I was fifteen years old (before the birth of Christ) a new product hit the grocery shelves: diet soda. This was an entirely new concept and, because my friends and I were constantly watching our weight, we immediately switched to Tab. It seemed like a complete no-brainer to us. Sure, it took a week or so to get used to the difference in taste, but so what? We could drink all the soda we wanted and not gain weight! Yippy-skippy!
Diet soda has been available for almost half a century. Can someone explain to me why so many of you are still drinking regular soda? Hmm? In fact, we now know that diet soda isn't such a good choice either - I'll cover that in a minute - but at least it's not fattening. Check this out:
If you drink one can of soda per day and don't cut calories somewhere else, you'll gain a pound every month. Those of you who are slugging down one or two liters per day - you know who you are - are slowly killing yourselves. One can of soda, the size you get out of machines, has the equivalent of ten teaspoons of sugar. Ten teaspoons! That's as much sugar as an adult should have the entire day!
The sugars used in soda are simple carbohydrates that are rapidly absorbed into your bloodstream. Every time you drink a soda your blood sugar spikes, putting strain on your pancreas. You're not just gaining weight when you drink soda; you're increasing your risk of diabetes.
All that sugar combined with an astonishing amount of acid is eating the enamel off your teeth and causing cavities.
The caffeine found in most sodas increases your blood pressure.
Excessive amounts of soda can lead to liver damage including cirrhosis, the end-stage disease most often associated with alcoholism.
The acid I mentioned, phosphoric acid, binds to calcium, magnesium and zinc. The caffeine has a diuretic effect, sending you off to the bathroom to unload urine that's rich in those bone-building elements. Now you're not just risking obesity, diabetes, rotten teeth, liver disease and hypertention, you're facing twice the risk of kidney disease and weakened bones.
Not convinced yet? You can add another element to sick, fat, and toothless. Your digestive tract wasn't meant to be bathed in acid, so put bloated and flatulent on the list.
Oh, my. Nurse Kelley just had an image of a fat, hypertensive diabetic with bad teeth, brittle bones and jaundice, farting away in the dialysis center ... and poured her Diet Dr. Pepper down the drain. Soy milk, anyone?