Apr
16
Soft Drinks and Midlife Bones Are Not a Good Mix
April 16, 2010 | Leave a Comment
Posted by: Kathleen Daniel
Of the many things I can thank my mother for is that she never let her girls develop a taste for (read: addiction to) soft drinks. Back in the 60s when Coca Cola began coming out in 6 oz bottles, two was our weekly limit. Raised on a large farm in northern Hungary, she didn’t need a health department to tell her that sodas aren’t real food, low in nutrients and high in empty calories. Or, as a naturally thrifty immigrant, that they were a colossal waste of food dollars – especially when the best thirst quencher was as close as the kitchen sink. (Note: only filtered water please!) I like to think she would be pleased today to see this poster of soda being poured from a plastic bottle into a tumbler … and transformed into globby, yellow-orange human fat on the way – especially if it’s a first strike in stigmatizing soda as the next cigarettes. While the New York Health Department wants to show how easy it is for 16 tbsp sugar per 20 oz to sneak up into obesity, midlife women need to be aware of the tomes of evidence linking soft drink consumption to osteoporosis and bone fractures. And for you ladies thinking you are safe with diet drinks – this is not about the sugar. .
Read more from Michael Murray, N.D. and Joseph Pizzorno, N.D., authors of the Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine:
“Many general dietary factors have been suggested as a cause of osteoporosis, including: low calcium-high phosphorus intake, high-protein diet, high-acid-ash diet, high salt intake, and trace mineral deficiencies. It appears that increased soft drink consumption is a major factor that contributes to osteoporosis. A deficiency of vitamin K leads to impaired mineralization of bone. Boron deficiency may contribute greatly to osteoporosis as well as to menopausal symptoms.”
“Soft drinks have long been suspected of leading to lower calcium levels and higher phosphate levels in the blood. When phosphate levels are high and calcium levels are low, calcium is pulled out of the bones. The phosphate content of soft drinks like Coca -Cola and Pepsi is very high, and they contain virtually no calcium.”
“The United States ranks first among countries in soft drink consumption. The per-capita consumption of soft drinks is in excess of 150 quarts per year, or about three quarts per week.”
And this is why I thank my mom: “Soft drink consumption in children poses a significant risk factor for impaired calcification of growing bones.”
Related Posts:
Soft Drinks: America’s Other Drinking Problem
Take New Zero Calorie Sweetener with a Grain of Salt
Women Doing It for Themselves: 8 Steps to Building Strong Bones for Lifelong Vitality
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