If you love carbonated drinks and think it’s alright to have one every now and then… think again. The health benefits of not consuming them are tremendous… here are seven important reasons why you should avoid the bubbly.
Helps you with weight loss
Drinking regular sweetened soft drinks changes the way the body muscles use food as fuel – they start to burn sugars instead of fats for energy. This reduces the body’s ability to burn fat, which makes it harder to lose weight and easier to gain it, say researchers from the UK.
Lowers your risk of diabetes
Your risk of developing type 2 diabetes drops by 25 per cent, every time your reach for water instead of a sugary fizzy drink. Don’t be tempted to swap your fizz for a diet soda, as it would not have any effect on your diabetes risk. It’s natural to assume that replacing sweet drinks with artificially sweetened ones will reduce diabetes risk, but unfortunately this is not the case.
Lowers your chances of a heart attack
New research has found that people who drink diet soft drinks on a daily basis are 43 per cent more likely to have a cardiac arrest. Researchers say it may be due to the acid in carbonated drinks.
Lowers the possibility of a stroke
US researchers have discovered that a larger intake of both diet and sugar-sweetened fizzy drinks increases your risk of a stroke. It is also known that consuming sugar-sweetened drinks can lead to insulin resistance and inflammation, increasing the risk of the hardening of the arteries and blood clots – both key risk factors for a stroke.
Live longer
California-based scientists warn that drinking 590 ml of sugary soft drink a day shaves four-and-a-half years off your average life span. The high sugar load accelerates the ageing process.
Protects your teeth
The erosive potential of sugary cola-based soft drinks is 10 times higher than orange juice. Opting for sugar-free, artificially sweetened soft drinks is not helpful either. Because they’re often ‘sweetened’ with acidic additives like sorbitol and xylitol, which can also up the risk of dental erosion, where the surface of your teeth (including tooth enamel) gets worn away, say researchers.
Slims down your waistline
In a nine-year study, people who drank at least one diet soft drink a day gained more than 7.6cm around their stomachs. Even people who drank diet soda drink a couple of times a week gained twice as much abdominal fat as people who didn’t drink it at all. And compared to fat that gets stored elsewhere, it’s the fat that gathers around the abdomen that’s a higher risk factor for disease.
Text: Good Health, Bauer / Additional Reporting: Shenielle Aloysis