Friday 23 July 2010

Dangers Of Diet Drinks

How can diet drinks (Coke, Pepsi, etc.) with virtually no calories make you gain weight? Well all food & drink is either acidic or alkaline. This is measured on the pH scale, 0-14. If you over-consume acidic foods, your body has ways to bring its pH back into balance, namely respiration, perspiration, urination & mineral depletion. The trouble begins when your body has to work overtime to maintain balance. If we consume too many acidic foods and drinks, our bodies take action to restore our pH balance - our breathing rate increases to remove carbonic acid by exhaling carbon dioxide, the kidneys increase the acidity of the urine, and minerals begin to be leached out of the body. As a side note, most animal products are acidic, and most fruits and vegetables are alkaline.


Diet drinks contain phosphoric acid, and drinking them causes our bodies to leach alkaline forming minerals such as calcium, magnesium, iodine, potassium & sodium to restore pH balance. Iodine supports the thyroid gland, which regulates our metabolism. Without iodine the thyroid won't work properly, our metabolism slows down, and weight gain will follow. Next time you think about reaching for a diet soda, think again!


The minerals I mentioned above are extremely important for normal body function, but most of us probably suffer from a deficit of these minerals. We are bombarded with the importance of calcium from the dairy industry, but did you know broccoli contains 10 times the amount of calcium that milk does?


Challenge everything, especially yourself.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

If you have thought about trying the alkaline diet, you may be wondering how it contrasts with other common diets, particularly low-carb diets including the Atkins diet and the alkaline acid diets.