Have a Coke! Could there be anything more symbolic of the USA than Cokes! Is it possible to name another product which has so infiltrated our culture? What about the effects of soft drinks on our health?

The problem with most soft drinks is that they are addictive. Most contain caffeine which is extremely addicting for humans. Therefore, instead of wondering if a can of pop a day is bad for us, we have to decide if two or three 32oz + (or more for some people) are risky. Yes, I have been there myself – a slave to those diet cokes! I used to consume nearly 100 ounces per day of the drink, but now I have cut WAY back. The effects of soft drinks on me were becoming very apparent as I got older.

One of the effects of soft drinks is obesity. Of course those of us who drink the diet version need not worry about that aspect of them. However, here are MANY who drink the “Real Thing”—especially children. I think kids must have an aversion to anything “diet”. It must be in their genetic makeup or something. Do you know how far you have to move your body to burn the calories in just one SMALL can of non-diet soft drink? Try 1.5 miles!! Hmmm, some quick math here….a 32 ounce soft drink has enough calories in it to move your body over four miles!! Wow! One of the effects of soft drinks SHOULD be for you to get your body out there moving and burning off all that extra sugar and losing weight!

So is one safer with drinking the diet version? Nope! I can attest to that personally. Besides the caffeine effects (I will get to that later), the artificial sweetener in diet soft drinks is simply not good for you! Although there are plenty of studies out there which say this, I don’t need to read them to believe it. When I drink too many over a period of several days, I can FEEL the effects of soft drinks! They make my body start to hurt and get stiff. I don’t know the science behind this and don’t care. I just know it is true for me. I have proved it too many times for myself. I don’t think I am the only one who feels this or something along these lines. I bet a lot of people feel the effects of soft drinks (diet) and simply choose to ignore them or haven’t made the connection yet (they will!). If you would like, you can do searches on the Internet to find countless studies which point to the negative effects of soft drinks.

Sleep Problem? It might just be another one of the effects of soft drinks! A co-worker of mine was complaining to me about her sleep problems (with a soft drink in her hand as she was talking). I asked her how many per day she was drinking. Two or three of the BIG cups every day! I told her what I thought was the problem. But for anyone who has ever tried to break the caffeine habit, it is TOUGH I tell you! I imagine she will just have to without some sleep until it gets to a more critical point for her.

Your body changes as you get older. I used to be able to drink a LOT of soft drinks each day with NO problems sleeping – none whatsoever! But then as I got into my late thirties I started having problems. It took me almost 3 YEARS to make the connection with my diet cokes and my poor sleep! Finally I got the flu and could not drink ANYTHING, much less diet cokes. For a week my body detoxed from the caffeine! I was sick as a dog anyway and did not really feel the effects of soft drinks leaving my system. But then I started getting better and enjoyed some deep sleep like I had not known in years! That is when I first made the connection. But of course I had to “test it”. And test it and test it and test it. I still have to sometimes. But poor sleep is no doubt one of the effects of soft drinks!

Poor bone health -- Study after study have shown the effects of phosphorus in soft drinks on our bones is significant. The phosphorus reacts with the calcium in our bones and causes the calcium content to go down. This is not a good thing to have happen as we get older – especially for women!

Ok, did I make my points about the effects of soft drinks? I hope so. If you are over-weight, switch to diet. If you have problems sleeping, cut back. If you want healthy bones when you get old, cut back ….or quit!