Long-Term Side Effects Of Drinking Soda Daily

I stopped drinking soda in high school for many reasons: it's loaded with sugar, has absolutely no nutritious value, doesn't quench your thirst and really isn't even that good. I replaced the soda with more water, unsweetened ice tea and other low-sugar and lite teas and fruit drinks. In the long-run these are a lot better for me, and won't put me at risk like sugary sodas will. Read on to hear what a ton of soda might do to your body over time.

One serving of soda can have nearly 40 grams of sugar, and if you're drinking at least one soda a day, you're putting yourself at risk for a lot of health problems and complications, aside from caffeine and sugar rushes and crashes. Here are a few of those:

Gaining Weight: drinking soda every day can make you gain an extra 10 pounds every four

years. The Nurse's Health Study monitored 90,000 women's health over an eight-year period. They drank one soda every day, and the majority gained the extra weight.

Diabetes: within the same study as the one above, the women who drank at least one soft drink a day were also highly likely to develop type 2 diabetes- twice as likely to be exact, than those who do not consume the sugary drinks as much or at all.

Heart Disease: besides the high risk of developing diabetes, those who consume a lot of soda are also at risk for having heart disease. According to a 2007 Circulation (the journal of the American Heart Association) study, every four years the risk of high blood sugar levels goes up by 25%, and the chances of your good cholesterol can be lowered by 32%. There is also a 40% higher risk of heart attacks and even death- all from drinking soda every day.

Miscellaneous Problems: in addition to the two mentioned studies, other ones show a plethora of other problems that can arise from daily soda drinking. According to the Yahoo! article:

Diet sodas have some of the same effects on health as regular sodas, despite having none or very little of the sugar. Why? Drinking soda is typically part of an overall lifestyle that’s not very healthy: We know you don’t like us to compare drinking caffeine and sugar to substance abuse, but when it comes to your lifestyle, some think that soda is just like a gateway drug.

So there you go- there are just a few problems that can come about by drinking what may seem like a harmless soda. It's actually not so harmless, and these are huge problems, so next time you're about to reach for soda in the store, reach for something else instead. It will do your body good in the long-run and you'll be happier knowing that you and your family are healthier.

What do you think of this? Are you willing to quit drinking soda or at least cutting down?