Dying for a Soda
Teenagers drink gigantic amounts of sodas. An average 13–19-year-old boy drinks 86 gallons a year—that’s 917 soda (12-ounce (oz)) cans a year, or 2 cans/day. Girls, of the same age, drink 58 gallons a year—that’s 620 cans a year, or 1 2/3 cans a day. Teenagers drink 13% of their total calories from sodas. Americans spent $66 billion on carbonated soft drinks plus billions more on noncarbonated sodas, in 2004. Sodas are not only robbing people’s wallets—even worse, they are robbing their health. Sodas are health robbers! They not only have unhealthy ingredients—they cause damage to our body and affect our mind and push healthy foods from our diet. Teenagers who drink soda tend to drink less nourishing beverages, and they eat less fruits, vegetables, and other high-fiber foods. Don’t be a victim!
Drinking a lot of soda means eating a lot of sugar (from high-fructose corn syrup) and many calories. The American Heart Association recommends that women should have no more than 6 teaspoons (tsp) of added sugar a day and men no more than 9 tsp a day. A 12-oz soda has 8 tsp of sugar and 150 calories. Research shows that many teens drink soda with other unhealthful foods such as french fries, chips, candy, and pastries, which cause overweight and obesity. The average 12–19-year-old boy gets 15 tsp of sugar from soda a day. Girls of the same age get 10 tsp of sugar a day. Teens who drink sodas eat more food than they should. So, based on the American Heart Association recommendations, just one soda takes up all the added sugar one should have for a whole day.
Heavy-soda-drinking teens have lower intakes of calcium, magnesium, vitamins C and A, zinc, and riboflavin, and higher intakes of calories, fat, and carbohydrates. Teenage boys drink about 2 2/3 cups of soft drinks a day but only 1 cup of milk. Girls drink 1 2/3 cups of soda a day, yet less than 1 cup of milk.
Teenagers are becoming bigger and heavier. From 1971–2002, teenagers have increased in weight from 6–16%. Studies show that the more sodas the teens drink, the more weight they gain. One study showed that people who drink their calories from soda rather than eating solid foods are more likely to be obese. People who are overweight and obese have an increased risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and cancer.
Weight gain is a major risk factor for diabetes. What we used to call adult onset diabetes we now call type 2 diabetes because more and more teens are getting the disease. Extra calories in soft drinks and fruit drinks contribute to type 2 diabetes.
Teens who often drink soft drinks bathe their teeth with sugar water for long periods of time during the day. The sugar causes tooth decay while the acids in regular and diet soft drinks erode the enamel of the teeth. Tooth decay is caused by eating sugary foods and beverages between meals. Do you want cavities and eroded teeth?
People who drink sodas are more likely to have low intakes of calcium. Low calcium intake causes bones to be fragile and easily broken (osteoporosis). By 18 years of age, girls build up 92% of their bone mass. Studies show that teenage girls who drank more sodas, fruit drinks, coffee, and tea built up less bone mass. If they don’t get enough calcium in their teenage years, they cannot catch up later.
A high fat and high cholesterol diet, smoking, and lack of exercise are the main causes of heart disease. But high carbohydrate and sugar diets increase triglyceride and insulin levels in the blood, which also contributes to heart disease and diabetes.
Six out of seven soft drinks have caffeine. (See table.) A 20-oz can of Mountain Dew has 90 milligrams (mg) of caffeine, as much as a 6-oz cup of brewed coffee. Caffeine at first makes one more alert, but then it causes nervousness, increased heartbeat, sleeplessness, and irritability. Children may get headaches, become restless, and have trouble sleeping. Caffeine also causes calcium to be excreted in the urine. The caffeine in one soda will affect one’s mood and performance, while 2–3 sodas per day can cause dependence and withdrawal symptoms such as headache and fatigue. Be aware that energy drinks and even some vitamin waters are loaded with caffeine. (See table.)
Yellow #5 is a dye that causes a runny nose, hives, and asthma in some people. The red color is extracted from insects and can cause life-threatening reactions. Dyes can cause attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in sensitive children.
Those who frequently drink sodas are at greater risk of getting kidney stones. Kidney stones are a very painful disorder of the urinary tract.
• “Tea, coffee, and tobacco are all stimulating and contain poisons.”—Counsels on Diet and Foods, pp. 420, 421.
• “Never take, tea, coffee, beer, wine, or any spirituous liquors. Water is the best liquid possible to cleanse the tissues.”—Ibid., p. 421.
• “Coffee is a hurtful indulgence. It temporarily excites the mind to unwonted action, but the after effect is exhaustion, prostration, paralysis of the mental, moral, and physical powers. . . . Unless . . . the habit is overcome, the activity of the brain is permanently lessened.”—Ibid., (emphasis supplied).
• “Tea and coffee drinking is a sin, an injurious indulgence, which, . . . injures the soul.”—Ibid., p. 425.
• “Those who use tobacco, tea, and coffee should lay aside those idols, and put their cost into the treasure of the Lord.”—Ibid.
In Ellen White’s time the people didn’t have sodas, but they did have coffee which is loaded with caffeine. So what she wrote about coffee would apply to sodas also. Notice how science agrees with what the Lord revealed over a hundred years ago! But what science cannot tell (and which only our Creator knows) is that caffeine injures our soul and our relationship with our Creator. Inspiration also tells us that “sugar, when largely used, is more injurious than meat” (Ibid., p. 328). “The free use of sugar in any form tends to clog the system and is not infrequently a cause of disease” (Ibid., p. 197). Natural forms of sugar in moderation do not cause a problem.
What shall we drink then? God gave us the perfect drink: pure, fresh water. It has no calories and no health-destroying substances. You don’t have to worry about gaining weight from drinking water. Our body is 60–70% water, so we need to drink enough of this free gift from God in order to stay healthy.
What should you do when your friends offer you a soft drink? Be not afraid or ashamed to say politely but firmly, “No, thank you.” If they ask you why, you can give them an intelligent answer based on what you have learned or give them a copy of this article.
Dear youth, if you have been drinking sodas, not realizing how dangerous they are to your body, mind, and soul, I believe you will want to quit drinking this injurious drink. If you don’t have the power to quit, look to Jesus. Remember Him hanging on the cross saying, “I thirst?” The soldiers put vinegar (sour wine) to His lips, “but when He had tasted it, He refused it. He would receive nothing that could becloud His mind. His faith must keep fast hold upon God. This was His only strength. To becloud His senses would give Satan an advantage” (The Desire of Ages, p. 746). Jesus fully overcame the enemy’s temptation on appetite so that you and I can have the victory over drinking sodas and every other unhealthful habit. Ask Him to give you the power to overcome, and He will. Make this promise your very own: “I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me” (Philippians 4:13). (All scientific references for this article are available upon request.)