The Harmful Effects of Soft Drinks

Courtney Lee

Mr. Quigley

Chemistry Honors

12 December 2015

The Harmful Effects of Soft Drinks

The average American drinks approximately 56 gallons of soda a year. Some people even admit to drinking more soda than water each day or no water at all. Every year billions of gallons of sodas are produced and sold in the United States alone. Many experts believe that soda is very harmful and could cause major heath defects for children, women and men. Caffeine is also a mild stimulate added to soft drinks. 300 mg of caffeine per day is a moderate consumption level and some drink more than 1 soda per day. (McKinley Heath System) This too also causes harmful side effects. Even though sodas taste great and quinces one’s thirst, they are extremely unhealthy.  

The chemicals in soda contain carbonated water and high fructose corn syrup. Most companies cover up their taste from competitors so they tend to use some “natural flavors”. Carbonated water is water that has carbonated gas in it. This causes the reaction to make the bubbles that appear at the top of the soda one you open or pour it. High fructose corn syrup also known as sugar is a sugar that originates from fruit, corn, or sugar beets. Sodas such as Cola-Cola and Dr. Pepper contain a large amount of sugar, but sugar companies make syrup to make it easier to mix in sodas. The syrup is harmful from the large amounts of natural sugar it contains. Phosphoric Acid (H3PO4) is the ingredient in soda that makes a sharper flavor, the burning flavor that you get in your mouth when you take a sip of soda. Most of the acidity comes from the phosphoric acid, not the carbonation. The meaning for having phosphoric acid in soda is to slow down the bacteria which are in sugary solutions. Caffeine acts as a stimulate drug to the human body, acting upon the central nervous system. Why is caffeine in sodas if it harms our bodies? There are several possible reasons, sometimes people need to stay up longer for specific reasons and makes them go off on their sleeping pattern so they drink soda to get that burst of energy to stay up longer. One will never know the answer.

Caffeine has been recently linked to certain cancers, breast lumps, irregular heartbeat, high blood pressure, and other problems. (Beat Cancer.Org)The water used in soda is tap water and can contain chemicals such as chlorine, fluoride and heavy metals (Health Line.com) .Harvard researchers have recently linked soft drinks to obesity. This study found that 12 year olds who drank soda were most likely to be obese than those who didn’t, and for each serving of soda consumed daily, the risk of obesity increased 1.6 times. There’s also some evidence to suggest that if you have a child who already has an anxiety disorder, the effects of caffeine make it worse. Children often drink more soda than adults and are more affected than adult’s heath wise. Caffeine increases your heart rate and it increases your blood pressure and often changes your body temperature. The changing of moods are side effects to the increase of high blood pressure or diabetes usually caused by unhealthy food or drink choices. For some people, caffeine enhances their moods. For others it makes it worse. The brains of a child tend to be a little bit more sensitive to caffeine's effects than the brains of adults. Caffeine can cause them to be hyper, which is obvious to most children, but it also can make them nervous, anxious, and can create sleep problems. The evidence doesn't show that caffeine stunts growth. But if kids are drinking soda, even caffeinated tea throughout the day, they may not be taking in the amount of calcium they need. Side effects include increased heart rate; increased blood pressure increased anxiety and decreased ability to sleep. What happens is some kids use them in replacement of good hydration, which is worse. Water is least used when needed to keep someone hydrated and this is becoming a major issue. The amount of sugar held in soda is more than one should take in 1 day. This is why kids are main factors of obesity today because they are taking in more sugar than they should causes it to harm their bodies and increase the rate of obesity in the United States. Caffeine can cause you to lose more water. Occasionally it's used for some people with migraine headaches, but beyond that, there's no medical use for the caffeine in sodas. Little do people know the harmful effects of sodas and what they do to your body and how the caffeine can cause health problems that can sometimes be deadly.

The amount of sugar that is added into the beverages we drink everyday are shocking and people do not understand the effects it is having on their bodies. The average 12 ounce soda contains about 150 calories. The amount of sugar in a soda depends on what type you're drinking. Lemon-lime soda such as Sierra Mist or Sprite contain about  37.6 grams of added sugar per serving, and ginger ale contains 31.8 grams, each of which is equal to about 9 ½  teaspoons of sugar. Coca- Cola has 38.9 grams of added sugar per serving, and Dr. Pepper contains 38.2 grams. Coca-Cola and Dr. Pepper have about 9 ¾ teaspoons of sugar. Root beer contains 39.2 grams of sugar per serving, which is almost 10 teaspoons of sugar. Cream soda is among your worst choices with 49.3 grams per serving or 12 1/3 teaspoons. Grape and orange-flavored sodas contain between 42 and 45 grams of sugar, which is a little more than 10 teaspoons. (Sugar Snacks.com) Keep in mind that if you drink a 16-ounce or 20-ounce bottle of soda, your intake of sugar will be much higher because more sugar is added into the small ounce bottles as oppose to a liter bottle. When your diet includes lots of high-sugar foods, you might not be getting the vitamins and minerals you need because you have less room for foods with higher nutrients. Too much sugar in your diet can cause weight gain. Drinking sugar-sweetened beverages, such as soda, is associated with unhealthy weight gain and obesity, both of which can increase your risk of cardiovascular problems (American Journal of Clinical Nutrition). As soon as soda is swallowed, the pancreas creates insulin in response to the sugar. Insulin is a hormone in the body used to move sugar from food or drink into the bloodstream, where cells are then able to use sugar for energy. Within just 20 minutes, blood sugar levels and liver responds to the insulin by turning sugar into fat for storage.(Endocrine Web) Within 45 minutes of gulping down a single 20-ounce glass of soda, caffeine from the drink is fully absorbed, and as a result your pupils dilate and blood pressure rises. (American Journal of Clinical Nutrition) In addition to the threat of reaching obese levels, researchers also found after following 40,000 men for two decades, those who drank a sugary beverage each day had a 20 percent increased risk of having a heart attack. The high fructose corn syrup has been associated with increased risk of metabolic syndrome, which leads to diabetes and heart disease. A single can of soda contains the same of 10 teaspoons of sugar. This amount of sugar, especially in liquid form, increases people’s blood sugar and causes a reaction in the body. Over time, this can lead to diabetes, weight gain and other health problems. Soft drink companies are the largest consumers of sugar in the country. Diet sodas also increase the risk of metabolic syndrome, which causes belly fat, high blood sugar and raised cholesterol. (Mayo Clinic) There is absolutely no nutritional value in soda whatsoever. Not only are there many harmful effects of soda, but there aren’t any positive benefits to outweigh them.  Soda is an unnatural substance that harms the body. Because of the high sugar, sodium and caffeine content in soda, it dehydrates the body and over a long period of time can cause chronic dehydration. Drinking sodas regularly also make harmful dental problems and causes plaque to build up on the teeth and can lead to cavities and gum disease.

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