Carbonated drinks are a favorite beverage for people of all ages. Although everyone knows that drinking carbonated drinks is harmful to the body, people still don't take it seriously and can't help but have a few sips. Below is a detailed introduction to the 6 major harms of drinking carbonated drinks to the body.
1. Easy to make you thirstier
Experts point out that carbonated drinks contain a large amount of substances such as pigments, additives, and preservatives, none of which are beneficial to the body. These ingredients require a large amount of water for metabolism in the body, and the caffeine in cola also has a diuretic effect, which promotes the excretion of water. Therefore, drinking carbonated drinks will make you feel thirstier and thirstier.
2. Easy to cause obesity
Carbonated drinks generally contain about 10% sugar, and a small bottle has a calorie content of one to two hundred kilocalories. Drinking them often can easily lead to weight gain.
3. Damages teeth
Soft drinks have clearly become one of the most important dietary sources of dental caries. The acidic substances and acidic sugar by-products in soft drinks can soften tooth enamel and promote the formation of cavities. If the tooth enamel is softened, coupled with bad habits such as incorrect brushing and grinding teeth, it can lead to tooth damage.
4. Affects digestion
Drinking too many carbonated drinks is not only good for the stomach and intestines, but also greatly affects digestion. Because a large amount of carbon dioxide inhibits bacteria in the drink, it also inhibits beneficial bacteria in the human body, so the digestive system will be damaged. Especially for young people, drinking too much at once can easily cause bloating from the released carbon dioxide, affecting appetite, and even causing gastrointestinal dysfunction, leading to gastrointestinal diseases.
5. Leads to osteoporosis
Associate Professor Fan Zhihong from the Department of Nutrition and Food Safety at the College of Food Science, China Agricultural University, pointed out that drinking cola and other phosphate-containing beverages will affect the body's absorption of calcium.
The ingredients of carbonated drinks, especially cola, mostly contain phosphate. People usually don't pay attention to this, but this phosphate can subtly affect your bones. Drinking carbonated drinks often will threaten bone health.
Excessive intake of phosphate will affect the absorption of calcium, causing an imbalance in the calcium-to-phosphorus ratio. Once calcium is deficient, the damage to the physical development of adolescents in the process of growth is very significant. Calcium deficiency undoubtedly means slow bone development and osteoporosis. Therefore, some data shows that adolescents who frequently drink large amounts of carbonated drinks have a 3 times higher risk of fractures than other adolescents.
6. Easy to cause kidney stones
Calcium is the main component of stones. After drinking too many caffeinated carbonated drinks, the calcium content in urine increases significantly, making them more prone to developing stones. If more caffeine is consumed, the danger is even greater. Magnesium and citrates in the human body can normally help prevent the formation of kidney stones, but after drinking caffeinated beverages, these are also excreted from the body, greatly increasing the risk of developing stone disease.