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4 Reasons to Avoid All Soda (Even Diet)

That innocent-looking can of soda—no matter what it's sweetened with—may be taking a toll on your immunity.

from Kitchen Cabinet Cures

4 Reasons to Avoid All Soda (Even Diet)© iStockphoto/Thinkstock
That innocent-looking can of soda pop-no matter what it’s sweetened with-may be taking a toll on your immunity. Here’s why:

1. People who drink sodas instead of healthy beverages (think low-fat milk and pure fruit juice) are less likely to get adequate vitamin A, calcium, and magnesium. What’s more, soda contains phosphoric acid that depletes calcium and magnesium. These two nutrients help keep your immunity operating at peak efficiency.

2. Sodas containing high-fructose corn syrup also contain high levels of free radicals linked to tissue damage, the development of diabetes, and diabetic complications.

Plus: 15 Foods You Should Never Buy Again

3. Plastic soda (and water) bottles contain a toxic chemical called bisphenol A (BPA) that can leach from bottles into soda…into you. Emerging evidence links BPA to a myriad of maladies, including immune system depression. Public health experts recommend that we protect children from exposure to products containing BPA-especially those they consume or use every day.

4. Diet soda actually contributes to weight gain. A study of 1,550 people concluded that people who drink diet soda have a 41 percent increased risk of being overweight or obese-for every can or bottle they drink per day! Turns out, any sweet taste signals body cells to store fat and carbohydrates, which makes you hungrier. Sweet tastes also promote insulin release, which blocks your body’s ability to burn fat. The hard truth: No published study has ever proven that drinking diet soda will help you lose weight.

Plus: Diet Soda May Increase the Risk of Stroke

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Your Comments

  • BottleBaby

    Soda and water bottles marked with a (1) on the bottom DO NOT contain BPA.  Bottles and containers (like those that come with certain kitchen water filters) marked with a (7) or a (9) DO contain it.  Please get your facts straight before publishing misinformation to your readers.

    • You’re so critical

      Wow!  You are slapped them down good!  Rejoice in your superiority!

    • Jennifer Washington46

      how do we know what you saying is true

      • ZeonChar

        A quick search on the internet will tell you the same. 

        • Cecil Burrow

          How do we know that what the internet says is true.

          • kysoti

            I read on the internet that the internet is always right

          • Bob

            How do we know what we read in Readers Digest is true?

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=746669581 Tammy Vogelgesang

    Diet soda was not created with the intent that you would lose weight when you drink it. It was created so you could drink it without adding unnecessary calories/sugars to your existing diet. As in well balanced healthy diet.

    • Blaqk

      Seems like a convenient excuse. The intent of the article is basically to say soda is bad for you and diet soda is basically a scam.

    • Cecil Burrow

      Diet soda is not part of a well balanced healthy diet. The only people I know who think otherwise are fat.

  • Lisa Nelson

    Fruit juices are not a ‘healthy’ beverage either.    It is often sweetened with high fructose corn syrup, but even if it’s not you are still drinking the fruit sugars in a concentrated form, without offsetting it with the fiber in the fruit.     

    • Shipshesharon

      and given to children who are still taking a   bottle, promotes tooth rot and gum disease:(

    • Slammer

      I believe the article stated “pure” fruit juices (e.g., no added sugar).  Please read things more carefully.

      • http://www.facebook.com/rob.dallara Rob Dallara

        he said ‘even if its not’, please read things more carefully.

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/BNLIGM6J4G2MNRWIOMO6325AXI Paradise

    …and what about all that CO2 coming out of those carbonated drinks and into the atmosphere…no climate change wacko worth their weight should be missing that obvious threat to the planet…

  • DMc

    Correlation vs. causation.  If you drink diet soda you’re more likely to be overweight.  Could this be because people who are overweight might be choosing diet sodas in order to decrease their calories?  There’s no evidence that consuming something sweet causes fat storage.  That’s ludicrous.  Fat storage happens when we have extra calories coming in — and we store them.

  • Lorem Ipsum

    total bull. aren’t fruit juices, even pure fruit juices, sweet? if so – isn’t that the same thing as drinking a diet soda – its a sweet taste… whoops. there goes your theory right out the window. TOTAL BULL

  • Pagan Beverly

    My  thought is that there are far too few consumers taking these warnings to heart. As the medical articles keep focusing on the dangers about soda pop and BPA, it doesn’t seem as if  the public is taking these warnings seriously. But I wonder how plastics companies have changed their products, or not so that consumers are not at risk of immunity issues and other risks. The articles I read recently, not only about the sugar content of soda but the processing of sugar for the brown (such as cola) sodas scared me. Has anyone heard that the brown color or caramelizing is done by using ammonia? That is frightening to me. Just one more reason to think, really think about what’s in your cup.

  • Eturoel

    Does this also apply to Spring Water which comes in plastic bottles ?

    • obla obla

      drink wine,water is polluted…. and sodas are crap.
      For those who uses them, there are free to do so… to poison themselves with some pleasure.

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/7N774LBNVDWFU22LUOAP7Y7XSY Taft

    Fat people drink diet soda…not “diet soda makes you fat”  You have your cause and effect backwards.

  • DietDew

     ”Turns out, any sweet taste signals body cells to store fat and carbohydrates, which makes you hungrier”…………Odd. I never get any more hungry after drinking diet soda or having anything with a sweet taste !!!!!  This article is mostly false.

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002402040685 Andrew Kamadulski

      odd, but that wasn’t what the author claimed

  • Eek

    OK I dont drink soda, but this is just  paranoia. Come on people wake up, the “news/government” is trying to control your every move, everything you eat, and everything you do

  • Anonymous

    I always thought the claim that diet soda contributes to obesity was total bunk.  Then I stopped drinking diet Coke and lost 60lbs.  Don’t get me wrong, I made other changes to my diet as well, but dropping diet soda from my diet certainly didn’t hurt.  I don’t miss it and I’m not as worried about the health of my bones.

  • zz

    Drink water –coca cola is a dessert

  • http://www.facebook.com/archer.christifori Archer Christifori

    All things in moderation are fine. Do anything to excess and we will have problems.

  • fit-for-life

    this is totally incorrect regarding diet soda. fruit juices are loaded with calories and incredibly unhealthy (eat the whole fruit instead!). bb has it right with the bpa. fat people are fat because they are genetically predisposed and/or consume more calories than they burn, so diet soda won’t make a difference. number 2 is correct for non-diet soda.

    eat right. excersise daily. driink diet soda in moderation and you will be fine folks. i drink a soda daily. have been doing so for years. no health issues! i’m 5’10″ and 150 pounds at age 57. living proof that this is info is junk!

  • Blondesareeasy Fullname

    I douche with it. So there.

  • Andrew

    I stopped drinking all soda back in mid March. I used to drink 2-4 Diet Cokes per day. My drink of choice is plain water plus I drink one cup of green tea per day. In the three months since quitting soda I have dropped 30 pounds (from 215 to 185 and still dropping). I feel better and no longer have the constant munchies I used to. Plus my heartburn is gone and I no longer use Prilosec OTC. This experience has opened my eyes a lot. Soda is poison and even diet drinks can kill you. I just hope the damage of 25 years of regular soda drinking can be undone. I am only in my early 40s so I hope so.

  • mylilelar

    Not to mention the disastrous consequences on your teeth.
    Liquid sugar………rots teeth all the way around.

  • Rick Schubert

    The only problem with soda is people drink it to quench their thirst, without even enjoying it. Soda’s fine if you drink it as originally intended, as an occasional luxury. Drink water when you’re thirsty.