Obesity is a terrible disease. But what shocks me more is however hard people try to follow low fat diets recommended by doctors; their fat levels wouldn’t go down. Which has made me wonder is it really the fat that’s guilty of this? So, I went for Biology 101.
HOW DOES OUR BODY WORK?
Glucose is the love of our body. It burns easily, is metabolized in every cell and has no toxic leftovers. It even informs the brain when you’re full. The problem lies with fructose. This is present in sucrose and is metabolized in the liver. It acts like alcohol but without getting you high. The liver converts it into bad fats which enter the body. The worst part – it doesn’t inform your brain when to stop eating. No wonder you can gulp down glasses of soda without feeling full.
THE FRUCTOSE PROBLEM
Fructose is present in processed food. Problem is, it’s even present in food that has the label ‘low fat’. Why is it that way? Because without fructose, it’ll taste terrible. Additives like fructose give it the taste you like so much. Fructose is also present in fruits but then, nature has combined it with fibers so the absorption is lower. Not so for the processed foods. So it’s necessary to cut down some fructose-laden food.
YOU CAN REPLACE IT WITH BETTER STUFF
We can start with fizzy drinks. They are terrible and I advised my patients to replace it with fresh lemon juice or plain water. The results were amazing. Another thing I love is Green tea. It has alpha wave stimulating theanine which acts as a medicine to caffeine. Opt for Stevia or similar natural sweeteners and you’re good to go.
FIZZY DRINK PROBLEMS
But then, I learned 1.6 billion helpings of coke is being sold every day worldwide. It’s been proven that coke is extremely harmful. Check it out, the time-based breakdown of how coke affects your body:
1. IN THE PRELIMINARY 10 MINUTES THAT HIT YOU
About 10 teaspoons of sugar, that is your normal recommended amount for the day, goes into your system all at once. Of course, in any ordinary circumstances, your body would want to puke it out of the system but the toxic sweetness is lessened by additives like phosphoric acid which doesn’t make your body recognize it.
2. WITHIN 20 MINUTES
Now that your body is getting the sugar rush, the insulin levels are going to explode. There’s plenty of sugar in your system and your liver starts converting them into fat as fast as it could. This research has been carried out in mice. When the fructose goes into the liver, it starts converting most of it into fats and this creates a condition called insulin resistance. That’s an obesity-based problem, and can cause type 2 diabetes and heart diseases and is even capable of causing cancer.
3. WHEN YOU REACH 40 MINUTES
Coca-Cola contains caffeine. By the time you enter 40 minutes, the absorption of caffeine is over and your pupils have started to dilate. Blood pressure is on the rise and once that happens, your liver releases all the fat into your body. The adenosine receptors in the brain are stopping you from getting drowsy.
4. FIVE MINUTES LATER
The dopamine gets released in your brain. Caffeine has a psychostimulant effect and is a potent anxiolytic and it almost acts like a heroin in your body. You will probably feel amazingly energetic now.
5. 60 MINUTES
The phosphoric acid in the fizzy drink starts getting into the lower intestine and binding with magnesium, calcium and zinc. This starts to push metabolism levels and once you pair it with the artificial sweeteners, there will be a major ejection of calcium through urine.
6. OVER 60 MINUTES
Caffeine will make you pee a lot. That means all the magnesium, zinc and bonded calcium that was being directed to the bones is now going to be ejected out along with electrolyte, sodium and water. Studies actually show that the total output of urine with calcium, sodium chloride, water and magnesium rose within two hours after having caffeine in comparison to any other controlled beverage is pretty high.
7. AND WHEN THE EFFECT STARTS DYING AFTER AN HOUR
Caffeine doesn’t stay forever. Slowly it goes away and once it dies, you are drained of all the energy. Not only that, the diuretic property of caffeine has made you lose all important salts and calcium that could have made your teeth and bones stronger.
WHAT DOES THE RESEARCH SAY?
Coke can be tasty but it’s not as harmless as it looks. A research by Harvard has suggested that even one can of coke per day could raise your chances of getting a heart problem by 20%. Regular consumption can lead to obesity. On top of that, it promotes inflammation which is really terrible. This has been found out after analyzing 43,000 men. Guess what – even the Coca-Cola president, Sandy Douglas, limits his intake to less than a can per day.
WHAT’S THE WAY TO DEAL WITH IT?
The key of course, is moderation.
But the terrible news is, 48% of recently surveyed Americans in a Gallup poll were found guilty of drinking soda. And shockingly enough, the average intake per day was about 2.6 glasses each day. That’s poison. Are you one of them? Please be aware of the problems associated with frizzy drinks and try to limit yourself. They are amazing but just keep a weekly gap between the intakes. They’ll taste a lot better without any guilt in your mind.
Featured Image Credit: The Renegade Pharmacist
America’s beverage companies agree it’s important for people to be mindful of sugar intake. However, federal data shows obesity rates are on the rise while soda consumption is at 30-year lows. Recent CDC data states that added sugars from soft drinks in the American diet are down 39 percent since 2000. Simply put, obesity rates have continued to go up as calories and sugars from beverages have been going down. Therefore, it’s inaccurate and misleading to suggest that soft drinks are a unique contributor to obesity or obesity-related conditions.
America’s beverage companies are helping support American’s efforts to cut back on sugar and calories by offering more products with less sugar or zero sugar, smaller portion sizes and calorie labels on the front of all of our products. Learn more at: BalanceUS.org.
I live in the United States and yeah, soda is bad, but most people that I know have weaned off of soda EXCEPT at restaurants. We’re not like Europe. Some people in the US eat at a restaurant EVERY SINGLE DAY. The meals are ENORMOUS. You’re encouraged to drink free soda refills and it’s even considered rude to not get an appetizer. Some restaurants even bring free, unlimited loaves of bread and butter for the table, they’ll even send you home with more if you stop taking them. It’s absurd. I calculated my family’s normal meal out, after the breadsticks and the wine and the salad and the huge bowl of pasta and the soda. I didn’t finish all my food and I ate 2390 calories… for one meal for one person. The menu said 1080 calories but that was for 350 grams of pasta with sauce and grilled chicken. I finished over half of my pasta and my takeout container was 500g meaning I was served almost 1.5 KG of food or 3240 cals of pasta. Of course I didn’t eat all of it but damn.