Curse of the Soft Drink | Too Late Schmart

Most soft drinks taste good and are a pleasant way of quenching thirst. They seem innocent enough, but if all the facts were told, we would soon learn of their dangers and the remarkable deception taking place. Let's take a close look at the ingredients and the effects they have on the body. The soft drink usually contains the following components: phosphoric acid, caffeine, sugar or aspartame or saccharin, caramel coloring, carbon dioxide, and aluminum.

Ingesting a soft drink does not cause any immediate warning such as stomach cramps, vomiting or diarrhea that would normally occur when a poison enters the body. Instead, there is the energizing feeling of caffeine, the sweet taste of sugar combined with the sour taste of phosphoric acid, and the playful feeling of carbon dioxide bubbles. Not bad for something that's not good! The hook is in…

Those ingredients cause imbalances in body systems that result in debilitating diseases that show up after many, many years of abuse. Those diseases have now become commonly thought of as "normal aging" with no directly attributable causes. However, we shall soon discover that soft drinks have subversive and destructive physiological consequences that contribute to early aging.

Phosphoric acid: Why was this acid used for soft drinks? Do you remember the old seltzer water bottles with the high pressure nozzle and thick glass to keep the carbon dioxide contained? People liked the fizz of the bubbles as they drank their water. It was special. The phosphoric acid provided an acid medium that would enhance the absorption of carbon dioxide (which is also acidic in water), thus reducing the pressure required and allowing the mixture to be bottled with a metal cap. The bubbles were released more slowly, particularly if the soda (salt was added too) water was chilled in the newly-marketed refrigerator. The sour taste of the phosphoric acid was complemented by adding lots of sugar. So what happens in your body when you drink this mixture?

The body maintains an almost constant concentration of phosphorus times calcium ([P] x [Ca] = k) in the bloodstream to provide the right combination for building new bones and remodeling old ones. The shock of incoming P with zero Ca in a soft drink causes effective (ionized) Ca in the blood to decline along with a net excretion of Ca in the urine. The drop in blood Ca causes another body system to dissolve Ca from the bones (taken first from the spine and pelvic bones) to make up the imbalance caused by the Ca lost from the blood. That process continued over time, results in the weakened bone structure associated with old people (osteoporosis).

That's not the end of it. The body dissolves more Ca from bones than is needed in anticipation of more P shocks. The overshoot of Ca is eliminated from the blood in life-sustaining order by

1. excretion in the urine,
2. Deposition in joints (osteoarthritis, bursitis),
3. Accretion into stones (kidney stones) and,
4. Deposition in arteries (calcified plaque).

Phosphoric acid is the same stuff that cleans deposited minerals in your shower -- the container warns that the acid is 'harmful if swallowed" -- it is a strong chemical -- a tooth will dissolve in it -- the cavities in my teeth that resulted from downing several soft drinks each day in my dad's grocery store were filled with mercury, a highly toxic metal that will be with me until the end even though I recently had the mercury removed from my teeth.

Phosphoric acid causes the body to use its alkaline minerals (sodium, potassium, magnesium and calcium) to neutralize the acid. The body loses valuable minerals because the neutral compounds (salts) are excreted in the urine. Sodium depletion causes bile to become acidic and form mucoid plaque on the intestines, which causes colitis and other serious bowel diseases. Potassium and magnesium depletion can contribute to the development of heart diseases.

Phosphoric acid is physiologically a strong acid that causes the body to reduce its secretion of hydrochloric acid (HCl) that is used for digestion of protein and fats and the absorption of minerals. Inadequate digestion results in bloating and flatulence. Poor absorption of dietary iron can result in anemia, and inadequate absorption of calcium can accelerate the trend of osteoporosis.

Another not-so-obvious harmful effect of low stomach acidity is the overgrowth of harmful bacteria, yeasts and parasites in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract that had been held in check by adequate HCl. These creatures can break sown the protective mucosal lining, penetrate into the bloodstream, lodge in organs and cause the formation of carcinogens that could provoke cancer.

Caffeine: This chemical is an addictive drug that has the ability to stimulate mental alertness, overcome fatigue and enhance endurance. What's wrong with that?

Caffeine acts by blocking adenosine (neurotransmitter) receptor sites in the central nervous system. Adenosine has a generally depressant action in the brain, heart and kidneys. The resulting stimulation is accompanied by constriction of cerebral arteries, rapid heartbeat, high blood pressure, and excessive excretion of urine.

Caffeine causes the release of adrenalin and an accompanying upshot in blood sugar to meet the need for emergency energy. The pancreas also reacts by secreting insulin to keep the blood sugar level from soaring. Insulin drives the blood sugar down by forcing it into cells for oxidation and energy production. Excess sugar is stored as fat. This unbalanced cycling process puts undue stress on the adrenal glands and the pancreas which are weakened after so much use. Adrenal exhaustion and the accompanying deficiency of cortisol allows arachidonic acid to be released to form prostaglandins-2 and leukotienes which mediate arthritis, allergies and more serious diseases.

Regular users that are deprived of their daily caffeine are subject to mental sluggishness, inability to think clearly, depression and a dull, generalized headache. All these symptoms are promptly eliminated by caffeine. Even moderate users must have their daily fix and cannot give up their harmful habit. Caffeine addiction is difficult to break because the penalty to health is not immediately recognized, and therefore, it is easy to deny.

At excessive doses (check out the caffeine in the coffee [>3 x normal] at the currently popular coffee houses), caffeine will cause aggression, recklessness, shouting, and swearing (sounds like "road rage" to me). Caffeine given to rats in large doses will cause them to physically attack one another and fight until death, if given to a lone rat, it will die of frenetic self-mutilation.

Cocoa (8 oz.) 30 mg
Tea (8 oz.) 50 mg
Soft drink (12 oz.) 50 mg
Coffee (drip-brewed, 8 oz.) 130 mg
Coffee House (12 oz.) 150 mg

The addiction of caffeine (and sugar) and powerful advertising make the soft drink a superior method for the delivery of ingredients that taste great, but are unsuspectingly destructive to health.

Sugar: A 12 ounce can of soda water contains about 33 grams (11 teaspoons) of sugar. It's difficult to think that something so common and that tastes so good can be so harmful to health.

The ingestion of sugar (or a high simple carbohydrate diet) acutely increases urinary excretion of calcium (and magnesium, chromium, copper, zinc, and sodium) by impairing reabsorption in the kidneys. The loss of calcium in the blood activates the parathyroid hormone (PTH) which causes the release of calcium from the bones -- more sugar starts the cycling that is at the root of osteoporosis, arthritis, bursitis and gout.

Sugar causes blood sugar levels to soar -- insulin, secreted from the pancreas, shoots up to drive the sugar down -- and a rapid unbalanced cyclingensues ("carbohydrate hell") that eventually wears out the pancreas. The insulin cycling and the loss of chromium can make cells resistant to insulin -- resulting in a disease called diabetes. It's no accident that it occurs in the declining years after we have inflicted so much continual damage.

The high insulin levels caused by sugar and other simple carbohydrates increase cell acidity which accelerates the growth of existing cancer and favors the growth of new cancer cells. Elevated blood sugar is seen in cancer patients, especially those with breast cancer. There is a direct relationship between sugar in the diet and death from breast cancer (gotten from epidemiological studies), as shown in the following table:

Sugar causes the clumping of red blood cells (as seen in live blood analyses). How about that one! This impedes the flow and effectiveness of delivering oxygen to the cells and removing carbon dioxide. The result is a detrimental buildup of wastes in the body that accelerates aging.

Sugar impairs immune function by competing with vitamin C for transport into white blood cells. In turn, that reduces the ability of the white blood cells to engulf and destroy invading bacteria, which leads to chronic infections.

Sugar supports the growth of harmful bacteria and yeasts in the GI tract which leads not only to painful and itchy infections, but also to infestations in the blood and body organs.

In the United States, about 50% of all carbohydrates eaten are sugar. The average adult eats 150 pounds per year -- and the trend is rising rapidly. Food manufacturers are currently bamboozling the public by taking fat out of foods and adding sugar to enhance the taste. It is then deceptively advertised as "fat free" to attract people who want to lose weight, but do not know that the body will convert excess sugar to fat anyway. (It is estimated that 50% of Americans are overweight.)

Aspartame is a sweetener that has found its way into almost everything to replace sugar. When aspartame is digested, it breaks down into three chemicals:

Aspartic acid is an excitotoxin that can cause serious chronic neurological disorders -- it can overstimulate neurons to such an extent that sensitive neurons are slowly destroyed before any obvious behavioral symptoms are noticed (the redundancy built into the brain allows something like 80 percent of certain brain cells to be irreversibly destroyed before symptoms show up).

Phenylalanine can cause decreased serotonin (a brain neurotransmitter related to emotion and sleep). Low serotonin can lead to emotional disorders, depression and poor quality sleep.

Methanol is a poison that is metabolized by the liver into formaldehyde (a deadly neurotoxin, carcinogen, mutagen and teratogen [birth defects]) and formic acid (the active chemical in bee and ant stings). Methanol is a cumulative poison whose symptoms include headaches, tinnitus, memory lapses, shooting pains, numbness and nerve inflammation. The most prominent symptoms are blurred vision, retinal damage and blindness.

Saccharin is a sweetener that is also a carcinogen (causes cancer) in animals. In 1978, the National Academy of Sciences concluded hat saccharin was a potential cancer-causing agent in humans, and that it promoted the carcinogenic effects of other agents. The Food and Drug Administration's position is that saccharin should not be used in food, but it can be used as a table sweetener (Aagh!).

Caramel coloring is obtained b heating sugar until a brown color and characteristic flavor develops. Caramel coloring has negative genetic effects and is a cancer-causing agent.

Carbon dioxide is probably the least noxious thing in a soft drink. It is a waste product of metabolism that is exhaled. So, why should we ingest something the body is trying to eliminate?

When it was found that phosphoric acid was eating away enough aluminum from the container to be harmful, the problem was "solved" by plastic-coating the interior of the aluminum can. However, phosphoric acid still leaches toxic amounts of aluminum into the soft drink. Aluminum is deposited in the brain and bone tissue. Aluminum given to rats resulted in the formation of neurofibrillary tangles in brain tissue -- the same type of lesion seen in the brains of individuals who suffer Alzheimer's disease.

Aluminum exposure increases the amount of bone breakdown, while at the same time, it reduces the formation of new bone. Aluminum causes excessive loss of calcium in the urine. The resulting osteoporosis can be accompanied by severe bone pain. Incidentally, the most common sources of ingested aluminum are antacids and processed cheese.

The plastic lining of metal food and soft drink cans and the plastic used to make many bottled-water bottles is bisphenol-A. It has been found that tiny doses of this plastic when given to mice will cause the male offspring to have significant drops in sperm production and evidence of malformed reproductive organs.

In the 1500s, the Spanish colonists noted how the Indians of South America were able to allay fatigue by chewing the leaves of the coca shrub. However, that observation lay dormant for three centuries as the science of organic chemistry developed. By 1860, in Germany, the first pure crystals of cocaine were extracted from coca. In small quantities, it was then used as a stimulant in various beverages.

By the 1880s, in Paris, a druggist named Angelo Mariani created an immensely popular cocaine-laced wine (vin Mariani). It contained about 30 mg of cocaine in five ounces. Pope Leo XIII gave a gold medal to Mariani for being a benefactor of humanity. Thomas Edison praised the beverage.

In the late 1880s, in Atlanta, a new non-alcoholic drink was born to quench thirsts and provide pep during the steamy summers. Coca Cola contained cocaine from the coca plant and lots of caffeine from the kola bean. Other ingredients were lots of sugar, caramel coloring, lime juice, citric acid, phosphoric acid, nutmeg, coriander (aromatic spice), neroli (orange flavoring), and cinnamon. The new beverage was sold as a syrup that would be mixed with cold soda water at local drugstores (with a scoop of vanilla ice cream [after refrigerators came on the scene in the 1930s], it became a "coke float"… of which, I had many!)

In 1906, the Pure Food and Drugs Act was passed, and the official in charge of its enforcement set out to prove that the "Coca Cola habit" was harmful to health. By 1922, that persistent official claimed in "Good Housekeeping" magazine that a child who drank three or four cokes (6 oz.) a day would probably ruin his health for life. Today we know why that's true.

If you have become too late schmart as I have, please explain this story to young people.

TOO LATE SCHMART is written by Stanford Field (BS chemical engineering, 1951) who has been avidly studying biochemistry and physiology, since 1993, with an aim of staying healthy despite the ever-increasing odds of age-related decline. This publication is written to the best of his ability, and it is intended to document any findings that may be useful to interested readers. The publication has neither profit nor political motives.