Nutritionist explains what drinking soda really does to your body
Topics: Food and Drink, Health
Gerrard Kaonga
Featured Image Credit: Getty Stock Image
Topics: Food and Drink, Health
A nutritionist has broken down how your body deals with soda and why you should probably cut back on your intake.
At this point, while many of us have our favorite sodas we like to have with a meal, you know they aren’t exactly good for you.
The fact sodas contribute to weight gain, poor gum and teeth health and a whole host of other issues isn’t exactly a secret.
However, do you really know why they are so ill advised by health professionals? Or what they actually do to your body?
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It is first important to know just how much sugar can go into some of the most popular drinks.
The average 12 ounce can of soda can contain up to 40g, or 10 teaspoons, of sugar.
Nutritional therapist Jeannette Hyde has said that it isn’t just the calories of the drink that are important but how the body processes the sugar.
She told The Telegraph: “When you have a sugary drink a lot of sugar is released into your body very quickly, and the hormone insulin is released, which carries the sugar to your cells.
“Insulin is a fat storage hormone, so it will make you gain weight.”
This also contributes to a damaging circle as the rise and fall of blood sugar can make someone hungry again and craving it once more.
She added: “So, you’ll seek out more sugar and the cycle will start again.”
Hyde also stressed this applied to sugary drinks and fruit juice, but not foods naturally containing sugar like fruit and whole grains as these are absorbed slowly.
Beyond weight gain, over-consumption of sugary drinks and increase the risk of more serious health conditions.
A 2010 Harvard University study found that people who drink one can or more per day of sugar-sweetened drinks have a 26 percent increased risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.
This is due to the drinks causing an increase in blood sugar levels to the point that the body can become insulin resistant and decrease overall production of it.
Hyde added: “It gets to the point where the cells in your body have had so much insulin coming at them that they become disordered and can’t cope anymore.”
So, it might be worth trading out that can a day habit for something a little more friendly on your body.