Many today prefer carbonated drinks. They taste good, it is believed that effectively quench thirst. But do they cause serious harm to our body? This question has recently been asked by more and more Russians.
Water is life
Many people cannot imagine a day without carbonated drinks. After all, the human body consists of 60 percent of water, so it is simply necessary to drink liquid. Some prefer coffee or tea, others dairy products. But there are many who drink sodas every day.
Do not forget that in all drinks, in addition to water, there are many other substances that have one or another effect on our body. Naturally, it can be both positive and negative. It depends on the substances themselves, and on the regularity and volume of the drink.
A lot of liquid will not hurt an adult, but a large amount of sugary carbonated drinks can harm him.
Base soda
Each soda has its own sweet and sour base. This is the content of sugar (or its substitutes) and acid. Recall that sugar is pure carbohydrate. One gram of sugar forms almost four kilocalories.
And in popular carbonated soft drinks, these indicators are very significant. 57.74 kcal per 100 ml in Pepsi-Col, 42 kcal per 100 ml in Coca-Cola. It turns out that in a jar of 0.33 “Pepsi” contains 8 pieces of sugar and 6.5 pieces in a jar of “Cola”. Slightly less sugar in other soda, but even so, the indicators are very high.
In this case, it is a kind of calories that are very easily absorbed by the body, so our brain is deceived. For a short time, hunger disappears, while this does not affect the amount of food that a person ate during the day. At the same time, light calories are utilized, mainly in fat. So excessive use of soda significantly increases the likelihood of diabetes and obesity.
Sweeteners
If you have a predisposition to such diseases, you can drink sweet carbonated drinks only if the manufacturer used sweeteners during the manufacturing process. For example, in soda with zero calorie do. As a result, artificial sweeteners are not absorbed by the body, you practically do not get calories.
The most famous sweetener is called aspartame. This is a protein that is also unsafe. In some people, it can provoke an allergy. Cyclomat, saccharin, sunnet are also popular. The energy value of such drinks is extremely low.
Acids
Another component of any sparkling water is acid. Use malic, citric, and sometimes phosphoric acid. The latter contains calcium salts, which flush calcium from bones. Sometimes, this leads to weakening of bone tissue, bones can begin to break more easily.
Another mandatory component of any carbonated water is carbon dioxide. In its pure form, it is absolutely safe, it is used for better preservation of the drink, but with large quantities, the acidity of the gastric juice in a person increases, gastric secretion is excited, all this leads to abundant gas production, which is also called flatulence.
If you suffer from an ulcer or gastritis, then before using soda, you need to shake the bottle well so that the gas comes out of it, otherwise it will negatively affect your condition. The same recommendations apply to mineral water.
Pancreas cancer
Speaking about the dangers or benefits of carbonated drinks, we can conclude that among the pluses is only pleasure, but there are much more minuses. For example, scientists are sure that they provoke pancreatic cancer.
For more than ten years, American scientists studied about 60 and a half thousand inhabitants of Singapore. During this period, 140 of them were diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. It turned out that every week they drank at least two cans of sweet soda. Generally 5 to 7.
Scientists explain this by the fact that there is a large amount of sugar in soda, as a result, an abnormally high amount of insulin begins to be released in the pancreas. This leads to cancer.
Effects on the heart
These drinks have an effect on the heart. Cardiologists are convinced that soda can not be attributed to products for a healthy lifestyle. Its consumption must be minimized.
The greatest harm to the human heart is provided by "Coke" with caffeine, as well as soda with a high sugar content. Fruit juices and non-carbonated high-calorie drinks, which contain sweeteners, also have a negative effect. Over the past few decades, the world began to drink twice as many such drinks. They become especially popular among young people and adolescents.
Contraindications
Categorically soda is contraindicated in people suffering from chronic diseases. This is overweight, peptic ulcer, gastritis, allergies, colitis and the like ailments. They are strongly not recommended to consume carbonated drinks in large quantities, but ideally it is better to simply refuse them.
It is forbidden to give soda to children under three years of age. Their body and stomach are still in the formation stage, this can lead to negative consequences.
How are drinks filled with gas?
In order to thoroughly understand all of these processes, we will understand how drinks are carbonated. There are two ways.
The first is mechanical. With it, the liquid is saturated with carbon dioxide. It is used in the production of carbonated and sparkling wines, mineral and fruit waters, soda. Everything happens in special devices called saturators, siphons or acratophores. Under high pressure, air is discharged from the pre-cooled liquid.
There is also a chemical method. It is used in the manufacture of beer, champagne, cider, bread kvass, and wines. The drink is carbonated during fermentation with carbon dioxide. A variant of the interaction of drinking water and acid is also possible. For example, soda or seltzer water is obtained this way .
"Tarragon"
Let us dwell on several popular carbonated drinks in Russia. One of them is Tarhun. It has an emerald green color, it contains water, sugar, citric acid, tarragon extract (this plant, which gave the name to the drink, is also called tarragon).
Drink "Tarhun" was invented by pharmacist Mitrofan Lagidze, who lived in Tiflis in 1887. In soda, he began to add natural syrup, which he himself produced.
For his invention, he received several medals at international exhibitions. In 1927, the Soviet authorities built the Tarkhun beverage factory.
It is interesting that lately it has been made yellow, but traditionally they continue to produce it in green glass bottles.
Pinocchio
"Pinocchio" - a drink popular in the USSR. Now it is also being released. This is one of the most popular varieties of Soviet lemonade. It has a golden color and a characteristic sour-sweet-bitter taste. The bottle always depicts the corresponding fairy-tale character.
In Soviet times, the composition of this lemonade, a drink that millions liked, was extremely simple - water, sugar, lemons and oranges. Only natural products were used, so he was so loved and revered by many.
Now in "Pinocchio" add flavorings and colorings. Therefore, drinking it is not so tasty and safe.
"Baikal"
Another popular soda of the Soviet period, which has remained famous in our days, is Baikal. The release of this product in the USSR was established in 1973. The drink almost immediately became super popular. This was our answer to the American Coca-Cola, which at that time was practically not available. Only occasionally the chosen ones could bring a jar from a trip abroad.
Moreover, the composition of Baikal radically differed from its western counterpart. These were water, sugar, citric acid, as well as licorice root, St. John's wort extract and Eleutherococcus. Essential oils were necessarily added - lemon, fir, laurel, eucalyptus. Now the recipe for Baikal has been bought out by Western companies. He was loved not only in our country, but also abroad.
Is there an alternative?
Having made sure that there is more harm than good from soda, one has to ask a reasonable question whether there is an alternative.
There are many options. If you are going on a vacation in the countryside, you can make a cocktail with your own hands. It will be tasty, nutritious and healthy. Take one and a half liters of pure water, add the juice of some citrus fruit, for example, orange or lemon, to your taste. At the end, a pinch of salt and sugar. It will be a pleasant drink with subtle acidity, which will support the body after a long transition, quickly quench your thirst.
You can drink juices. They are much more useful than soda, especially freshly squeezed. They have all the trace elements and vitamins our body needs. As well as fiber and many other biologically active substances. In addition, juices are absorbed by the body faster and easier than any vegetable or fruit. Of course, they cost several times more than soda, not everyone can afford them.
Then it is worth paying attention to canned juices, the price of which is much lower. True, after industrial processing, some vitamins in them are destroyed, but in most juices all the lost vitamins are added additionally. Juices are also of great benefit because they contain iron and calcium, which contain organic acids necessary for the human body. In addition, many juices stimulate appetite well.
Of course, the most useful juices are those designed for baby food. It is strictly forbidden to add any preservatives, with the exception of citric acid.
Among adult alternatives, juices with pulp are considered useful, in which there are much more useful substances than in most other juices.
Another tasty and healthy drink is nectars. These are juices that were previously diluted with water and sweetened with sugar. They contain a large number of minerals, vitamins and other useful and necessary components. Of course, there are fewer of them than in juices, but not by much. Moreover, they do not cause such harm to our body as soda.
Do not forget that many juices have medicinal properties. In order to have an effect, an adult needs to drink three glasses a day, and for children under three years old no more than one. They should be diluted with water.
Doctors advise against drinking juices while eating, especially if you suffer from chronic digestive diseases. This can increase fermentation in the intestines, it is best to drink juices before meals. When the acidity of the stomach is lowered or normal, then you need to drink a glass of juice half an hour before eating, so the most favorable effect will be exerted on health.
But do not overdo it with juices. Because of this, the load on the kidneys increases, which threatens with edema. In addition, there is enough "chemistry" in the juices, and some manufacturers do not shy from adding preservatives and dyes to them. Moreover, they may not report this on the packaging. And such substances often cause allergies.
Mineral waters also have beneficial properties. Especially if they are produced on high-quality equipment capable of normally dissolving salts and saturating water with carbon dioxide in a quality manner.
It is definitely impossible to answer the question how much water should be drunk per day. It all depends on the physical condition of a person, the presence of certain diseases. If you drink healing mineral water, then, as is the case with any medicine, an overdose is possible. Therefore, consultation with a doctor is necessary.
When choosing what to drink, carefully read the label, giving preference to drinks prepared on a natural basis.