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Some
of the most common diet and health questions are in
regards to beverages.
- Why
should I avoid carbonated beverages?
- What
about caffeine and coffee?
- Are
these beverages bad for my diet or bad for my health?
As with
any lifestyle choice, there are consequences. In general,
drinking carbonated or caffeinated beverages in MODERATION
is unlikely to cause cancer or any life-threatening
disease.
However,
these beverages do have an immediate effect on your body
and can affect your health, particularly if you are like
most Americans who do things in excess.
Carbonated beverages are typically high in sugar and
their consumption is linked to a number of chronic health
conditions, including increased obesity and diabetes
rates. Although a single can of soda pop is unlikely to
kill you, it can affect your weight loss efforts. A
12-ounce can of soda pop has between 38 and 48 grams of
sugar, depending on which soda you choose.
If you
are on a diet, this seemingly small "indiscretion" can
cause you to exceed the recommended daily intake for
sugar. The recommendation for sugar is 'less than 10% of
total calories'. If you are on a 1200-calorie diet, this
means only 120 calories (or 30 grams) should come from
sugar. Not only does this supply an entire day's worth of
sugar in one shot, but it is also completely devoid of
vitamins, minerals and other nutrients needed to support
metabolism during weight loss. If you're trying to lose
weight, skip the soda.
So what
about diet soda? True, it has no sugar or added calories.
But it still has an effect on health and weight loss
efforts. Even if the beverage contains no sugar, the
carbonation destroys enzymes and the friendly intestinal
bacteria required for healthy digestion and immunity.
Healthy digestion is key to ensuring that all the
nutrients needed to support health and metabolism are
available to the cells of the body that need them.
For
those following Infinity2's The Enzyme Diet(tm) program,
the carbonation also destroys the active enzymes contained
in The Enzyme Diet(tm). Without these enzymes, The Enzyme
Diet(tm) cannot properly support your metabolism and
promote weight loss. So, even though diet soda has no
calories, it can sabotage your weight-loss efforts and
affect your health.
Another
potential problem with soda-pop consumption is the
caffeine content. Caffeine, like carbonation, blocks
enzyme activity. It also affects nutritional status and is
a central nervous system stimulant, so it can cause
nervousness, irritability, sleeplessness, and rapid heart
beat.
Caffeine, coffee and tea can affect iron absorption and
can increase calcium losses from the body. The substances
in tea and coffee can interfere with iron absorption,
particularly if you drink a caffeinated beverage with your
meals or iron-containing supplements. Drinking 12 ounces
of caffeine-containing soft drink causes the loss of about
20 milligrams of calcium. Although coffee and caffeine do
not produce osteoporosis, women who drink large amounts of
coffee, cola, and tea instead of milk or other
calcium-rich foods and beverages may find themselves at
increased risk for osteoporosis. Because the average
absorption rate for most forms of calcium is only about
20%, you would have to consume an additional 100 mg of
calcium to replace the 20 mg lost.
If you
are pregnant or have specific health conditions, you
should be extra cautious regarding caffeine intake. Ask
your health care provider for specific instructions
regarding caffeine intake if you have a health concern,
even if it is not included in this article.
The
U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommends that women
who are pregnant or hoping to become pregnant avoid
caffeine or consume as little as possible. High caffeine
consumption can make it harder to get pregnant and/or lead
to a miscarriage or low birth-weight infant. Since
caffeine will show up in breast milk, breast-feeding
mothers should likewise avoid it.
Caffeine can also pose a potential problem for those
prone to heartburn or ulcers. Caffeine relaxes the valve
between the bottom of your esophagus and the top of your
stomach. When this gateway flops open, stomach fluids can
surge up into your throat, triggering heartburn. In
addition, coffee, tea, colas, and other caffeinated
products may aggravate ulcers by increasing acid secretion
in the stomach (though in fact, decaffeinated coffee has
also been shown to increase acid production).
Those
who have high blood pressure or are at risk for heart
disease should also watch their caffeine consumption.
Research studies have shown that as little as 2 cups of
coffee a day can raise your blood pressure. Although the
increase isn't large enough to bring on hypertension in
healthy individuals, those who already have high blood
pressure should limit their intake to 2 cups of coffee (or
its equivalent of other caffeinated drinks) or less per
day. Researchers have also found that coffee drinking
raises homocysteine and total cholesterol levels. (Source:
Christensen B, et al. Am J Clin Nutr 2001;74:302-7)
Elevated homocysteine and elevated cholesterol are both
linked to an increased risk of heart disease.
Inspite
of these potential concerns with caffeine, many people
turn to caffeine pills or beverages for weight loss
believing that caffeine will raise metabolism.
Unfortunately, the amounts of caffeine needed to exert an
effect on metabolism are very high. The amounts of
caffeine used in weight-control studies have been
significant - equal to 6 cups of strong coffee daily. But
even in these studies, the kick from this amount of
caffeine doesn't seem to significantly increase metabolic
rate - the rate at which the body burns calories. Nor does
it result in significant loss of body fat. In some people,
the large amounts of caffeine cause jitters, irritability,
insomnia and elevated blood pressure.
The
best weight loss programs combine regular exercise with a
healthy diet and reinforce healthy, lifelong behaviors.
One behavior to promote healthy long-term weight loss can
be to replace your carbonated beverages and coffee with
water. Water has no calories and comes in many forms - not
just from the tap. Perk it up with a twist of lemon or
lime. So eat, drink and be healthy. For more information
on The Enzyme Diet(TM) visit the Infinity2 website and
take the tour.
Discover the power of enzymes with
weight loss products! | 