Authored by: Bryan Shorthouse
The Advocate Capital, Inc. Wellness Committee works to enhance the physical, emotional and intellectual health of our employees. We have launched a blog as part of our ongoing educational series. Today, we’re looking into the effects of drinking sodas.
According to Healthline, some sources of sugar are worse than others; however, sugary drinks are by far the worst.
Here are some things to consider when you pop open your next can of pop, from Healthline.com:
Obesity: Due to high-calorie content and large amounts of sugar; regular soda consumption has been linked with an increased risk of obesity or being overweight. The body becomes resistant to Leptin, the hormone produced in the body to regulate the number of calories you eat/burn.
Liver Problems: Sugar and high-fructose corn syrup are present in soda. When broken down into glucose and fructose, the cells in your body can process glucose. The only organ that can process fructose into glucose is the liver. Heathline.com says the liver turns any excess fructose into fat, which puts people at a high risk of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.
Metabolic: Insulin is secreted in the pancreas and drives glucose from your bloodstream to your cells. High sugar content within food and drinks is linked to desensitizing your cells and developing insulin resistance. This is a steppingstone to diabetes, mainly type 2.
Calories: Heathline.com says there are no essential nutrients in soda, just sugar, and a lot of calories.
Addictive: Sugar is addictive, its why we all crave sweets and have a hard time saying no!
Cancer: Cancer tends to go hand-in-hand with other chronic diseases like obesity, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease. Therefore, the risks increase.
Read more about the effects of sugar in Healthline’s 13 Ways That Sugary Soda Is Bad For Your Health.
The Cleveland Clinic noted sugar can cause heart disease.
Heart Disease: The Cleveland Clinic says studies have shown there is an increased risk of vascular events than those who reportedly did not drink soda.
Kidney.org says too much sugar is related to the development of diabetes.
Kidney Problems: Kidney.org says too much sugar can eventually cause damage to blood vessels in the kidney. When the blood vessels in the kidneys are damaged, the kidneys are not able to clean the blood of excess water, salt and waste materials.
Since our inception in 2016, our mission has been to enhance the physical, emotional, and intellectual health of our employee population and their families through means of awareness, education, and onsite health promotion programs. If you are interested in creating a Wellness program in your office, please contact Rachel Markin, Director of Marketing, or Stephanie Wagenaar, Director of Strategic Solutions.
