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Drinking Sodas Causes Premature Aging, Weight Gain, Even Early Death
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Everyone has a soda now and then, right? What’s the big deal? OK, so they aren’t health food but so what? Having a soda with my lunch everyday isn’t going to kill me, right?
Uh…well…now that you mention it…
A new study shows that it just might kill you sooner than you might think. These sugary drinks are even more incredibly unhealthy, and downright dangerous, than we previously thought.
SEE ALSO: Which is the Most Deadly: GMOs, Cigarettes, or Diet Soda?
The American Journal of Public Health states that drinking sodas shortens our telomeres. The shorter our telomeres, the shorter our lives.
What is a telomere? Think of it as a cap on the ends of our chromosomes. As we get older, telomeres get shorter. The shorter our telomeres, the harder it becomes for our cells to regenerate. This is why we get older and have signs of aging.
This study involved scientists at several universities who studied more than 5,000 adults who were asked to take part in the National Health and Nutrition Exam Survey from 1999 until 2002. Subjects were between the ages of 20 and 65. All subjects were generally healthy and had no history of heart disease or diabetes. Although they were not tracked, they were measured at one point within this timeframe. Researchers measured their stored DNA and determined that the more soda an individual drank made for shorter telomeres.
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Photo credit: bigstock.com
With one simple blood test, researchers could read a subjects biological clock and figure out their risk of premature death. A few of these studies also found that shorter telomeres predicted cognitive issues. This means that the cellular aging that sodas do to our bodies might predispose you for dementia.
Researchers were unable to make a significant connection between the consumption of diet sodas and noncarbonated sugar sweetened beverages with the length of telomeres, but the consumption of 100 percent pure fruit juice, no added sugars or other ingredients, was marginally associated with longer telomeres. So even though the typically carbonated sugar filled sodas were linked to a shorter lifespan and premature aging, 100 percent pure fruit juice appear to be just the opposite and benefit long term health.
Many people think that as long as they aren’t gaining weight, they can continue to drink sodas and it doesn’t really matter, but this study shows a connection, some type of invisible pathway that leads to an accelerated aging process, even if it doesn’t bring about weight gain.
Roughly 50 percent of Americans drink a least one soda every day and these sodas contain approximately 200 calories each. Empty, aging calories no one needs. Find out the effect of drinking soda.
The scientists in this study say that for every 20 ounce soda, you age an additional 4.6 years. That is just about equal to the dangers of smoking a pack of cigarettes every day.
Wow. Let that sink in.
So, if someone told you that developing much fewer cavities, ditching a few pounds, and slow down those aging telomeres, just by giving up one drink, wouldn’t you do it? You can! The soda habit isn’t that hard to ditch, not compared to cigarettes or fast foods. Try a squeeze of fruit juice in some water or sparkling water and try that for a change. You probably won’t even miss that soda, but after a few weeks you should notice how much better you feel.
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Johnross1968
Feb 8, 2015 at 12:37 am
“The scientists in this study say that for every 20 ounce soda, you age an additional 4.6 years”
This is such obvious BS. This is telling me that if I drank a 2 ltr bottle of coke I just aged 16 years. So if I drink 10 2 ltr bottles of coke I would age 160 years!
Even a blind idiot can tell you this is BS.
American Beverage Association
Feb 10, 2015 at 2:45 pm
You’re right to be cynical about this study, and you’re not alone in questioning these ‘findings.’ As this Slate article (http://slate.me/10yvm5I)
aptly puts it: “The new paper doesn’t show that the long-term health
effects of soda and tobacco are comparable. It doesn’t prove that
Coca-Cola kills people. And it doesn’t estimate the effects of drinking
Pepsi on anyone’s lifespan. It only claims to find
a subtle difference between soda lovers’ blood cells and those of
everybody else. The shallow write-ups and inveigling headlines are
insulting, and possibly injurious.” In sum, the body of science proves
soda is safe, and this research fails to prove otherwise
or to establish its inaccurate claim regarding soft drink consumption
and accelerated aging. In other words, there is no cause for concern.
-American Beverage Association