!~¤§¦ Contents ¦§¤~!
Ingesting a fizzy drink does not cause any immediate warning such as stomach cramps, vomiting, or diarrhea that would normally occur when a poison enters the body. Instead, there is the energizing feeling of caffeine, the sweet taste of sugar combined with the sour taste of phosphoric acid, and the playful feeling of the carbon dioxide bubbles. Those ingredients cause imbalances in the body systems that result in debilitating diseases that show up after many, many years of abuse. Those diseases have now become commonly thought of as normal aging with no directly attributable causes.
!~¤§¦ Phosphoric Acid ¦§¤~!
This is used because phosphoric acid creates an acid medium that enhances the absorption of carbon dioxide (which is also forms carbonic acid in water), thus reducing the pressure required and allowing the mixture to be bottled with a metal cap. The carbon dioxide bubbles are released more slowly, particularly if the mixture is chilled. The sour taste of the phosphoric acid is complemented by adding lots of sugar
!~¤§¦Caffeine¦§¤~!
This chemical is an addictive drug that has the ability to stimulate mental alertness, overcome fatigue, and enhance endurance. But, at a price. Caffeine acts by blocking adenosine (neurotransmitter) receptor sites in the central nervous system. Adenosine has a generally depressant action in the brain, heart, and kidneys. The resultant stimulation is a accompanied by constriction of the cerebral arteries, rapid heartbeat, high blood pressure, and excessive excretion of urine. Caffeine causes the release of adrenaline and an accompanying upshot in blood sugar to meet the need for emergency energy. The pancreas also reacts by secreting insulin to keep the blood sugar level stable. Insulin drives blood sugar levels down by forcing it into cells for oxidation and energy production. Excess sugar is stored as fat. This unbalanced cycling process puts undue stress on the adrenal glands and the pancreas, which are weakened after so much use. Adrenal exhaustion and the accompanying deficiency of cortisol allow arachidonic acid to be released to form prostaglandin-2 and leukotrienes which mediate arthritis. Regular users who are deprived of daily caffeine are subject to mental sluggishness, inability to think clearly, depression, and a dull, generalized headache. All these symptoms are promptly eliminated by caffeine. Even moderate users must have their daily fix and cannot give up their harmful habit.
Caffeine addiction is difficult to break because the penalty to health is not immediately recognized, and, therefore, it is easy to deny. At excessive doses, caffeine will cause aggression, recklessness, shouting, and swearing (road rage). Caffeine given to rats in large dosages will cause them to physically attack one another and fight until death. If given to a lone rat, it will die of frenetic self-mutilation. The addiction of caffeine and sugar and powerful advertising make the fizzy drink a superior method for the delivery of ingredients that taste great, but are unsuspectingly destructive to health.
!~¤§¦Sugar¦§¤~!
A 12-ounce can of soda contains about 33 grams (11 teaspoons) of sugar. An 8-ounce can of Pepsi has over 10 teaspoons of sugar. It is difficult to think that something so common, and that tastes so good, can be so harmful to health. The ingestion of sugar (or a high simple carbohydrate diet) actually increases urinary excretion of calcium, magnesium, chromium, copper, zinc, and sodium by impairing reabsorption in the kidneys. The loss of calcium in the blood activates the parathyroid hormone (PTH), which causes the release of calcium from the bones—more sugar starts the cycling that is at the root of osteoporosis, arthritis, bursitis, and gout. Sugar causes blood sugar levels to soar—insulin, secreted from the pancreas, shoots up to drive the sugar down—and rapid, unbalanced cycling ensues that eventually wears out the pancreas and makes the cells resistant to insulin—resulting in a disease called diabetes. It’s no accident that it occurs in the declining years, after having inflicted so much continual damage. Sugar causes the clumping of red blood cells (as seen in live blood analyses). This impedes the flow and effectiveness of delivering oxygen to the cells and removing carbon dioxide from the cells. The result is a detrimental buildup of wastes in the body that accelerates aging.
Sugar impairs immune function by competing with Vitamin C for transport into white blood cells. In turn, that reduces the ability of white blood cells to engulf and destroy invading bacteria, which leads to chronic infections. Sugar supports the growth of harmful bacteria and yeast in the GI tract which lead to not only painful and itchy infections, but, also, to infestations in the blood and body organs. In the United States, about 50% of all carbohydrates eaten are sugar. The average adult eats 150 pounds of sugar each year. A teenager eats 300 lbs./yr.—and the trend is rising rapidly. Food manufacturers are currently deceiving the public by taking fat out of foods and adding sugar to enhance taste. It is then deceptively advertised as “fat free” to attract people who want to lose weight, but do not know that the body will convert excess sugar to fat anyway (it is estimated that 50% of Americans are overweight).
Aspartame, Saccharin
and Caramel Coloring
and Caramel Coloring
Aspartame is a sweetener that has found its way into almost everything to replace sugar. When aspartame is digested it breaks down into three chemicals: aspartic acid, phenylalanine, and methanol. Aspartic acid is an excitotoxin that causes serious chronic neurological disorders—it can overstimulate neurons to such an extent that sensitive neurons are slowly destroyed before any obvious behavior symptoms are noticed. Phenylalanine can decrease serotonin (a brain neurotransmitter related to emotion and sleep). Low serotonin can lead to emotional disorders, depression, and poor quality sleep. Methanol is a poison that is metabolized by the liver into formaldehyde (a deadly neurotoxin, carcinogen, mutagen, and teratogen [birth defects] and formic acid (the active chemical in bee and ant stings). Methanol is a cumulative poison whose symptoms include headaches, tinnitus, shooting pains, memory lapses, numbness, and nerve inflammation. The most prominent symptoms are blurred vision, retinal damage, and blindness. Saccharin is a sweetener that is also a carcinogen (causes cancer) in animals. In 1978, the National Academy of Sciences concluded that saccharin is a potential cancer-causing agent in humans, and that it promotes the carcinogenic effects of other agents. The Food and Drug Administration’s position is that saccharin should not be used in food, but it is used as a table sweetener! Caramel coloring is obtained by heating sugar until a brown color and characteristic flavor develops. Caramel coloring has negative genetic effects and is a cancer-causing agent.
Carbon dioxide and Aluminum
Carbon dioxide is probably the least obnoxious thing in a soft drink. It is a waste product of metabolism that is exhaled. So, why should we ingest something that the body is trying to eliminate? When it was found that phosphoric acid eats-away enough aluminum from the container to be harmful, the problem was ‘solved’ by plastic-coating (Teflon) on the interior of the aluminum can. However, phosphoric acid still leaches toxic amounts of aluminum into the fizzy drink despite the plastic coating. Aluminum is deposited in the brain and bone tissue. Aluminum results in the formation of neurofibrillary tangles in brain tissue—the same type of lesion seen on the brains of individuals who suffer from alzheimer’s disease. Aluminum exposure increases the amount of bone break-down, while, at the same time, reducing new bone formation. Aluminum causes excessive loss of calcium in the urine. The resulting osteoporosis can be accompanied by severe bone pain. The most common source of aluminum ingestion is antacids and processed cheese
