Dear Kymythy,
Do you have a good
replacement for soda pop?
Great idea! The average
American drinks about 56 gallons of soda every year! When you consume even just
one soda, you're ingesting approximately 10 teaspoons of refined sugar and 50
milligrams of caffeine, along with artificial food colors and other chemicals.
What you're not getting is any nutritional value.
There's a strong link
between soda consumption and many health problems including obesity, tooth
decay, behavioral disorders, diabetes, and bone loss. And the connection between
soda consumption and childhood obesity is so strong that a few schools are now
beginning to remove the vending machines from school grounds. Hurray!
Diet sodas may be even more
dangerous to your health: The artificial sweetener most of them contain,
aspartame, may be linked to more than 92 negative health problems including
seizures, brain tumors, and birth and vision defects. Furthermore, when these
diet sodas are stored for long periods or kept in a warm environment, the
aspartame changes to methanol and then formaldehyde.
The newer sweetener Splenda,
a chlorinated sucrose derivative, has no long-term safety research for humans;
however animal studies may link it to shrunken thymus glands, enlarged liver and
kidneys, reduced growth rate, decreased red blood cell counts, aborted pregnancy
and other health problems. And the most ironic thing of all is that diet sodas
may actually increase your appetite and contribute to obesity according to some
studies!
Here's an extremely simple
and tasty recipe that provides a tasty alternative to soda: Simply blend
sparkling mineral water (buy the type that's naturally sparkling and hasn't had
carbon dioxide added to it) with your favorite no-sugar-added fruit juice.
Voila! A delicious soda that tastes good, won't break the bank, and won't break
your body!
About the Author:
Kymythy R. Schultze is a
Clinical Nutritionist (C.N.) and has been a trailblazer in the field of
nutrition for nearly two decades. Find this and more delicious healthy recipes
in her book "The Natural Nutrition No-Cook Book" and for better health in your
pets "Natural Nutrition for Dogs and Cats" both published by Hay House, Inc.
Visit Kymythy's website at www.kymythy.com
.
