There are several animal studies linking phthalates, parabens, and other personal care product chemicals to endocrine disruption, and a study published in the journal Human Reproduction shows that humans are not exempt from that group. Researchers from the University of California, Berkeley looked at 338  children from birth to adolescence, obtaining urine samples to determine chemical levels and looking for signs of puberty development at nine-month intervals from the age of nine. The study shows that every time a mother’s phthalate levels doubled in concentration, their daughters grew pubic hair 1.3 months earlier than expected. Kim Harley, lead author of the study and associate director of the Center for Environmental Research and Children’s Health at the University of California, Berkeley says,

There has been considerable concern about why girls are entering puberty earlier and hormone disrupting chemicals like the ones in personal care products that we studied have been suggested as one possible reason…”

Endocrine Disruptors

Many of the chemicals measured in this study are known endocrine disruptors. Phthalates, parabens, and triclosan have all been found to have numerous negative effects on the body, and they’re very stable. This study found that endocrine disruptors measured while a child was still in utero had a link to abnormal hormonal events occurring a decade later. The chemicals are also measured in tiny amounts, parts per billion, indicating that a little goes a long way (or causes a lot of damage). Here’s a look at where to find these chemicals and why you should avoid them.

Related: How to Detox From Plastics and Other Endocrine Disruptors

Phthalates

Phthalates are nearly impossible to avoid. This group of chemicals is used to make plastics more flexible, and in addition to being present in virtually every type of plastic packaging, you can also find phthalates in computer cords, toys, cars, personal care items, detergents, and flooring. Phthalates are also found in various foods, though oils, dairy, and meat (especially chicken) have consistently registered high levels of the chemicals.

This is bad news for the endocrine system. It’s also a potential factor in other health problems. A 2014 study from researchers at Columbia University found a marked increase in asthma among children exposed to large concentrations of phthalates in the womb. Phthalates have also been linked to attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, breast cancer, obesity, diabetes, neurodevelopmental issues, behavioral issues, and autism spectrum disorders.

Parabens

Parabens are used in preservatives, and you’ve probably seen them in the ingredient list of products like deodorants, shampoos, lotions, and other personal care products. Many conventional products have more than one type of paraben. These chemicals effectively prevent the growth of bacteria and are also used to preserve food and beverages like beer, sauces, desserts, sodas, processed fish, jams, pickles, frozen dairy products, processed vegetables, and flavoring syrups. A study conducted in Albany, New York in 2013 collected a range of food samples and found parabens in 90 percent of them.

The biggest controversy regarding parabens and health has to do with the chemical’s classification as xenoestrogens. This means they imitate estrogen in the body. This, in turn, disrupts the endocrine system. While a 2004 study in the U.K. that found parabens in malignant breast cancer tumors was hotly disputed, a more recent study (2015) from the Silent Spring Institute and the University of California Berkeley also suggested a significant link between parabens and cancer cells. Dale Leitman, a gynecologist and molecular biologist at UC Berkeley, is the study’s lead investigator.

Although parabens are known to mimic the growth effects of estrogens on breast cancer cells, some consider their effect too weak to cause harm…But this might not be true when parabens are combined with other agents that regulate cell growth.”

Related: Holistic Guide to Healing the Endocrine System and Balancing Our Hormones

Triclosan

Triclosan is an antibacterial and antifungal chemical that’s frequently added to soaps, toothpaste, toys, kitchen materials, yoga mats, cosmetics, and athletic clothing. Interestingly, the chemical was initially registered as a pesticide at its introduction in 1969. Until 2016, it could also be found in hand sanitizers. Triclosan has since been banned for use in sanitizer products by the Food and Drug Administration. That ban has not stopped the public from being exposed to triclosan through a myriad of other means.

The antibacterial qualities of triclosan disrupt gut bacteria, and the chemical has been linked to chronic colon inflammation and colon cancer. It’s also been shown to alter hormone regulations in animal studies. This new study indicates that triclosan behaves the same way in humans as well.

New Normal

You can try your best to avoid these chemicals. This involves avoiding all plastics, anything that came into contact with plastics, any products with artificial fragrances, filter all of the water in your house, avoid food sprayed with any kind of chemicals, and stay away from any and all Bisphenol products, among other things. Unfortunately, the only way to accomplish a few of the items on that list requires checking out of modern life. All of this poses a huge challenge for understanding puberty – what do we do when what we know changes?

Sources:

• Chemicals in cosmetics, soaps tied to early puberty in girls – Reuters
• Association of phthalates, parabens and phenols found in personal care products with pubertal timing in girls and boys – Human Reproduction
• Chemicals in some household plastics linked to child asthma risk – The Guardian
• How to Detox From Plastics and Other Endocrine Disruptors – Organic Lifestyle Magazine
• 10 Surprising Places You Can Find Phthalates – Naturally Savvy
• Lotion ingredient paraben may be more potent carcinogen than thought – Berkeley News
• Triclosan could be really harmful to your gut, and it’s probably in your toothpaste – LA Times

A few days ago we saw a tweet that just seemed too good to be true:

The gang at #CNN has to retract and revise photo it claimed was child with #measles when it is discovered child was actually suffering adverse reaction to measles #vaccine. #FakeNews #YouCantMakeThisStuffUp https://t.co/tqxTIJdpyL

— The HighWire (@HighWireTalk) February 1, 2019

Recommended: How To Heal Your Gut

Did CNN really post an image of a vaccine reaction instead of an image of the measles?

We saw the original article and remembered that image but we didn’t think much of it at the time. Of course, we trust Del Bigtree’s vaccine reporting, but we still had to verify it for ourselves.

And it’s true.

Scroll down to the bottom of the Washington is under a state of emergency as measles cases rise article and see where it says,

Correction: This article and an accompanying video previously included a photograph of a child with a rash linked to a vaccination. The image has been removed.

And check the Wayback Machine internet archives here to see the original article with the image.

Related: How To Detoxify and Heal From Vaccinations – For Adults and Children

Almond milk producers are allowed to call their product milk, says the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The court agreed with another court dismissal of a class action lawsuit filed against Blue Diamond Growers, makers of the best selling almond milk in the United States. The lawsuit alleged that the company was misleading consumers and subsequently advocated for labeling plant-based milk as “imitation milk” due to their inferior nutritional content. This is not the first time nut milk has found itself fighting to use the term milk, as the dairy industry is using all avenues available to them to deal with a culturally, ethically, and environmentally shifting world.

Ongoing Saga

The initial lawsuit against Blue Diamond Growers was filed in January 2017. the almond thing has been in court since at least 2017. The case was dismissed with prejudice in 2017, and the case was then appealed by the plaintiff in 2018. After the second dismissal due to the lack of proof that consumers would be misled by almond milk’s nutritional claims and information, it seems unlikely that almond milk manufacturers will need to change their labeling practices based this lawsuit. They will, however, need to reconcile this issue with the Food and Drug Administration sooner rather than later.

In a statement released in September 2018, FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb expressed sentiments remarkably similar to those in the case against Blue Diamond Growers.

The wide variety of plant-based foods that are being positioned in the marketplace as substitutes for standardized dairy products has been the subject of much discussion in our initial work on the Nutrition Innovation Strategy. The rising demand for plant-based products, like soy-based alternatives to cheese and nut-based alternatives to milk, has created a growing number of new food choices in supermarket aisles. However, these products are not foods that have been standardized under names like “milk” and “cheese.” The FDA has concerns that the labeling of some plant-based products may lead consumers to believe that those products have the same key nutritional attributes as dairy products, even though these products can vary widely in their nutritional content. It is important that we better understand consumers’ expectations of these plant-based products compared to dairy products.”

It’s comforting to hear that the FDA is paying attention to and invested in the changing nutritional needs of the public. Still, recent studies have found that milk doesn’t provide nearly the health benefits either, especially if you’re unable to easily digest it. Yet the FDA references the nutritional superiority of dairy with the phrase “key nutritional attributes.” Why is the government agency acknowledging new attitudes without making room for the possibility that we might not need milk like previous generations thought we did?

Related: Homemade Vegan Nut Milk Recipes

Dairy Farmers in Crises

The growing interest in relabeling milk alternatives has a direct correlation with the fortunes of the dairy industry. The dairy industry is in a particularly rough spot and has been for decades now. Dairy consumption has dropped by 40 percent since the 1970s, and that shows no sign of stopping. The dairy industry has received two separate bailouts within the last three years, including a billion dollar allotment in a budget agreement signed by the Senate in 2018 and a USDA purchase of 11 million dollars of surplus cheese in 2016. Previous efforts at combating the downward trend include the popular got milk campaign, but the current business strategy of blaming alternative milk for declining milk sales isn’t likely to fix the issues with the dairy industry.

Nut milk appeals to the lactose intolerant, the health conscious, the environmentally conscious, and vegans. The public is also paying more attention to how their food is produced, and several dairy industry practices make consumers less likely to support the dairy industry. These practices include but are not limited to separating mothers and babies less than a week after birth, dehorning cows, and keeping cows constantly pregnant.

In addition to shifting public perceptions, the dairy industry is also dealing with a problem of their own making. While the demand for milk and other dairy products has declined, dairy producers have continued to build their surplus. In 2017, the reported milk surplus was more than four times the amount of the actual consumer demand for milk. This imbalance also negatively effects dairy farmers, who are forced to sell milk for lower prices. Many farmers are subsequently going out of business.

Recommended: How To Heal Your Gut

Milking Nuts

All of this is good news for nut milk producers like Blue Diamond Growers, the defendant in this case. The dairy industry is losing its mojo, and this lawsuit and other stalling tactics are only increasing the whiff of desperation. The dairy industry may not like the competition from nut milk and other non-dairy alternatives, but that won’t change the fact that those products are here to stay.

Sources:

• Federal Court Rules that Almond Milk is Milk – VegNews
• Amongst FDA SOI Conversation, Ninth Circuit Agrees Consumers Are Not Misled by Plant-Based Milks – National Law Review
• Statement from FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D., on modernizing standards of identity and the use of dairy names for plant-based substitutes – FDA
• Dairy Organizations Applaud Congressional Letter to FDA Asking for Stricter Enforcement of Milk Labeling Standards – NMPF
• Big Dairy Is About to Flood America’s School Lunches With Milk – Bloomberg

According to Monsanto’s press release, the company (recently bought by Bayer) is investing $125 million in gene editing technology with Pairwise Plants, a California agricultural startup that aims to develop gene edited corn, soybeans, cotton, canola crops, wheat, and potentially “strawberries or some other fruit.”

My co-founders and I believe the technologies we have each been developing can have a profound impact in plant agriculture and will speed innovation that is badly needed to feed a growing population amid challenging conditions created by a changing climate.” – Pairwise founder J. Keith Joung

Developing foods that will “last longer” on store shelves is said to be the primary goal of this partnership.

People who are increasingly consuming more fresher fruits and vegetables would likely eat even more if they could get items that meet some or all of these criteria — benefiting retailers through increased sales. And with about 40% of the food produced every year in the U.S. thrown away, totaling an estimated $200 billion, CRISPR could potentially cut down on waste — an area of focus for socially minded consumers, manufacturers and supermarkets.” – Food Dive

Because they will be using gene editing technology, under the new GMO labeling guidelines, the products will not need to be labeled.

Specifically, we are deeply disappointed that the final rule does not clearly require the disclosure of all genetically engineered ingredients, including highly refined sugars and oils, and new GMO techniques like CRISPR and RNAi.” – GMO Labeling Explained – What You Need to Know About These Confounding, Loophole-Laden Rules

With traditional GMOs, a gene is inserted from another organism. Gene-editing is different because it finds a gene and then makes changes by amending or deleting the gene.

Already one Columbia University study has shown that this type of gene editing can create “hundreds of unintended mutations” within the target organism. It’s not known whether this extends to gene edited foods, but now the question is, “Do you want to be the guinea pig?” – March Against Monsanto

We moan, groan, and complain about pollution and rightfully so. Landfills are overflowing; plastic waste chokes our lakes, rivers, and the oceans. Cigarette butts litter the roadways; old vehicles, appliances, and unwanted items clutter forested areas. Not only is all this garbage an eyesore, but it’s also detrimental to the environment.

The overabundance of trash is a serious problem demanding our immediate attention. It’s not going to go away on its own. Humans made the mess; we have to clean it up. For millions of years, Mother Earth pretty well took care of all our planet’s waste, but nature cannot reclaim manmade, non-organic materials on land or in the sea.

Our forefathers invented new machines and materials but never imaged ‘progress’ could result in such a plight. Since the Industrial Revolution and especially during the last century, humans have continuously created more and more items that last long beyond their useful lives.

Related: Drinking Bottled Water Means Drinking Microplastics, According To Damning New Study

After World War II, mobility and convenience became the preferred mode of life. We became a throwaway society where items were not made to last. The idea of ‘toss it away and buy another’ applied to nearly all consumer products. It was cheaper to buy a new kitchen appliance or a children’s toy than to fix it. In the last 50-75 years, durable and reusable items like glass milk and soda bottles have been replaced with plastic. We are now left with figuring out how to get rid of all the garbage.

According to the EPA, in 2014, the United States produced about 258 million tons of waste. Approximately 35 percent of it was recycled; the remaining 136 million tons were dumped into landfills.

Much of that garbage consisted of materials that have limited recycling programs available like tires, electronics, batteries, appliances, and cigarette butts. These items along with the rest of all the consumer and industrial waste products add up to a massive amount of trash with nowhere to go.

How Do We Dispose of Non-Recyclables in a Responsible Manner? Burning or burying garbage is not the answer. It just compounds the problem by poisoning the land and water as well as the air. What the world needs is a way to correct the imbalance in a responsible way.

Related: How to Detox From Plastics and Other Endocrine Disruptors

As conscientious citizens, we do our part by recycling some of our plastic, glass, and cardboard as well as taking steps to lessen our carbon footprint. But are we doing enough? What do we do about items that are not recyclable? Is it possible to make a dent in all the accumulated garbage while keeping up with the waste we are creating now?

I asked that last question to Lauren Taylor, Global Vice President of Communications at an innovative recycling company named TerraCycle. She says,

People are finally realizing the past 40-50 years are catching up with us, and there’s a real crisis. I don’t think it’s possible [to catch up with the waste problem] unless we start changing some things. If we don’t, it’s not going to get better.”

TerraCycle

TerraCycle is making this insurmountable task a little easier by providing a way to recycle the unrecyclable. They have become an international leader in converting non-recyclable waste into raw materials or useful affordable products.

In partnership with major corporations, they run free collection programs. Individuals, groups, schools, and businesses sign up for one or more programs to recycle items such as cigarette waste, used oral care products, contact lenses, energy bar wrappers, and used water purification products. During the past 15 years, over 100 million people in 21 countries have collected and recycled over four billion used products and packages. In turn, the recycled plastics, metals, fibers, and wood have been reused, composted, or upcycled into new products.

Earth911

There is another chapter in the recycling the unrecyclable story that needs to be addressed—E-cycling. Computers, monitors, telephones, and other electronic gadgets are left in limbo when it comes to recycling. Some retailers like Best Buy, Office Depot, and Staples have a drop-off service for used electronics, and most cell phone providers offer recycling programs. Some of these services are free, some charge a fee. By using Earth911, you can find an e-cycle center near you, whether it be a store or a recycling center specializing in electronics.

This website also has listings for recyclers of other waste such as tires, automotive parts, paints, batteries, construction materials, and metals that need to be disposed of. Earth911 has a database of 100,000+ recycling centers across the United States, and their blog has interesting articles to help answer questions about green living.

There are many companies, organizations, and projects doing a commendable job of collecting and recycling the waste piling up on the land, but that is only a part of the problem. How about the seas? The oceans cover nearly two-thirds of the surface of our planet and play a vital role in producing oxygen and providing food. Millions of tons of plastic and other debris pollute these waters endangering the sea life and in turn, endangering our own.

Garbage in the Oceans

Ocean plastic can be found everywhere from the coastal regions to the deep sea, even buried in Arctic ice. In an article on National Geographic’s website, Laura Parker reports,

In 2010, eight million tons of plastic trash ended up in the ocean from coastal countries—far more than the total that has been measured floating on the surface in the ocean’s ‘garbage patches.’”

According to the Worldwatch Institute, the amount is now approximately 10–20 million tons of plastic ending up in the oceans each year.

A recent study conservatively estimated that 5.25 trillion plastic particles weighing a total of 268,940 tons are currently floating in the world’s oceans. This plastic debris results in an estimated $13 billion a year in losses from damage to marine ecosystems, including financial losses to fisheries and tourism as well as time spent cleaning beaches. Animals such as seabirds, whales, and dolphins can become entangled in the plastic matter; and floating plastic items—such as discarded nets, docks, and boats—can transport microbes, algae, invertebrates, and fish into non-native regions, affecting the local ecosystems.”

Some of the plastic is tossed from vessels sailing the high seas, but a majority of the trash originates from coastal outflow. With larger populations along the coastlines, more trash is being produced with an increasing percentage of that winding up in the water. So, a logical solution to curbing ocean pollution is to catch the trash before it floats out to sea. That’s the principle behind the Seabin and Plastic Bank projects.

Related: Ocean Plastic To Triple Within A Decade 

The Seabin Project

The Seabin is a floating trash receptacle located at marinas, docks, yacht clubs, and commercial ports. It is connected to a submersible water pump cycling water through the trash bin. The floating debris is captured in catch bags located inside the Seabin. It collects trash, oil, fuel and detergents, as well as micro-plastic and micro-fiber debris before it flows into the ocean. Seabins collect three-quarters of a ton of debris per year including plastic bottles, plastic utensils, disposable cups, cigarette butts, plastic particles, and surface pollutants. The trash is either disposed of properly or recycled.

The Plastic Bank

The Plastic Bank impacts high poverty areas by turning plastic waste into money. It is a fairly simple process—people collect plastic, take it to a recycling center and in return receive money, items, or services. This stops the flow of plastics into the oceans while providing a positive future for impoverished people.

The recycled plastic collected through the Plastic Bank is sold to companies to use in the place of virgin plastic for their products or packaging. The collectors have a source of income to provide a better life for their families. It is a win-win for everyone.

Related: How Microplastics Enter the Food Chain Through Organic Fertilizers

Where Does the Recovered Ocean Plastic Go?

• In France and Germany, Proctor & Gamble started using reclaimed beach plastic to make bottles for Head and Shoulders shampoo. In the coming years, they plan to expand the beach plastic repackaging to other P&G products in the United States and the United Kingdom.
• Adidas uses yarn made from ocean plastic in a line of tennis shoes and athletic shorts.
• The Ahi Performance Cruiser Skateboard contains 50 square feet of abandoned fishing nets.
• The bottles used to package Method’s Dish and Hand Soap are made from recycled beach plastic.
• Bionic Yarn creates a line of textiles that are used in consumer products ranging from boat covers to furniture to high-end clothing.
• Sunglasses, jewelry, luggage, art, and sculptures also contain recycled plastic. The list is endless.

What Can We Do?

We can play a role in recycling. See trash along the side of the road? Pick it up and dispose of it properly. Separate your garbage into cardboard, plastics, glass, and paper and take them to a recycling center. Find programs that accept other items that need to be disposed of. Take a walk on the beach and collect the litter. There are hundreds of ways to show your respect for our environment.

We can do our part by making wise decisions in the products we purchase and how we dispose of the waste. It does not require a major life change. It can be a small step—recycle something you haven’t before, purchase less of something, change the brand of an item you purchase because they do something different with their packaging. Small steps lead to big steps toward change.

Sodas are worse for your health than eating sugary junk foods and may even be worse for you than smoking. Soda is proven to be addictive and consumption has been clinically linked to increased blood pressure, high blood sugar, weight gain, kidney disease, heart disease, diabetes, depression, asthma, headaches, ear infections, joint and muscle problems, developmental delays, ADHD, heavy metal toxicity, yeast infections, urinary tract infections, candidiasis, other increased pathogenic activity, increased PMS symptoms, brain damage, liver toxicity, tooth decay, acne, mood swings, decreased fertility in men and women, and so much more!

In other words, drinking soda feeds infections, disrupts the gut microbiome and the metabolic processes, degrades cells, causes chronic illness, exacerbates virtually all chronic illness symptoms, and rapidly ages the body.

This is true for sugary sodas, diet sodas, and most energy drinks.

Recommended: How To Heal Your Gut

The Sugar in Soda

A 20-ounce bottle of Coke contains approximately 65 grams sugar which equates to about or 16 teaspoons of sugar. There are 39 grams of sugar in a 12 oz can of Coke, which is equivalent to about 10 teaspoons of sugar. Most sodas that aren’t artificially sweetened are made with high fructose corn syrup, so the teaspoons of sugar are just equivalents.

The American Heart Association recommends that Americans consume no more than five to nine teaspoons of sugar per day.¹ We contend that nine teaspoons of processed sugar are too much. Even one is too much. We don’t recommend any refined sugar.

A 20 oz soda has 2.5 servings. A standard serving size is eight ounces. There are 100 calories in one eight ounce serving of soda. These calories are void of nutrition. There’s an easy trick to figure out how many teaspoons of sugar a food has: divide the total sugar grams by four.

A 20-ounce bottle has 65 grams of sugar; 65÷4 = 16.25 teaspoons of sugar.

A can of coke has 35 grams of sugar; 35÷4=8.75 teaspoons of sugar.

If you’re trying to stick with the American Heart Association’s recommendations of no more than nine teaspoons of sugar per day you’re pretty much done after a can of soda.

Beverages are the most significant source of added sugars in the American diet.  The average American drinks almost 42 gallons of sweetened beverages a year. That’s about 39 pounds of sugar.²

Our genes are arranged within double-stranded molecules of DNA called chromosomes. At the ends of the chromosomes are stretches of DNA called telomeres. Telomeres protect the ends of chromosomes from deterioration and from fusion with other chromosomes. When chromosomes replicate, the enzymes that duplicate DNA cannot continue their duplication all the way to the end of a chromosome. Consequently, when a chromosome is duplicated it is also shortened. The telomeres act as disposable buffers at the ends of chromosomes, protecting the genes from being shortened. Over time, with cell replication, the telomere ends become progressively shorter.

Telomere length is positively correlated with lifespan, and shorter telomeres are associated with aging and an increased risk of age-related diseases. Sugar-sweetened soda consumption is associated with shorter telomeres. “Regular consumption of sugar-sweetened sodas might influence metabolic disease development through accelerated cell aging.” ³ The good news is that telomere length has been shown to increase with positive dietary and lifestyle changes.

Recommended: Holistic Guide to Healing the Endocrine System and Balancing Our Hormones

It’s Not Just the Sugar

Plain sparkling water is slightly acidic. We don’t believe these weak acids acidify the body significantly but the carbonation may cause some damage to the teeth’s enamel even without the sugar (diet sodas have been shown to cause tooth decay). There is also a theory that the phosphate used in some carbonated beverages inhibits calcium absorption. But neither of these issues compares to the damage sugar and artificial sweeteners do to the body.

Artificial colors and flavors in many soft drinks have been shown to cause hyperactivity in children.  Yellow 5 has been associated with irritability, depression, and insomnia. Caramel coloring produces a chemical called 4-methylimidazole (4-MEI). The chemical may increase the risks of developing cancer. But, again, these risks are nearly negligible when compared to the health impacts of the sweeteners.

Soda has also shown in studies to have mercury, lead, cadmium, chromium, and aluminum.^4,5,6

Diet Soda

Artificial sweeteners increase hunger and make it harder to enjoy healthier foods.

When we consume artificial sweeteners our brain thinks real sugar is coming into the body. We produce insulin to deal with the sugar that’s not there. When the sugar doesn’t arrive the insulin has nothing to store. Elevated insulin causes inflammation and depresses the immune system.⁷ Blood sugar temporarily drops but long-term use of artificial sweeteners raises blood sugar levels overall.⁸ They also alter gut bacteria, disrupt normal serotonin levels, slow metabolism, and they alter how the body responds to insulin and glucose, which can lead to glucose intolerance.^9,10

Studies suggest that drinking diet soda is associated with metabolic syndrome,¹¹ a mix of conditions that includes: high blood sugar, increased blood pressure, and ironically enough, obesity. This can lead to diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. Artificial sweeteners have been tied to Type 2 diabetes, Hypertension, Cardiovascular Disease, and cancer.^11,13

Soda Addiction

You can definitely compare the intense pleasure I get from a cold can [of soda] to having a cigarette.” – Wouter, People Explain How Soda Addiction Is Ruining Their Life

Recommended: Sugar Leads to Depression – World’s First Trial Proves Gut and Brain are Linked (Protocol Included)

Soda Facts

Soda May Cause Headaches and Migraines

Artificial sweeteners such as aspartame are listed as top migraine triggers by numerous medical authorities and migraine sufferers.” – Migraine Triggers: Artificial Sweeteners, (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7).

Caffeine and high fructose corn syrup are also common triggers for migraines.

Soda Messes Up Our Microbiome

Sugar (including dextrose, table sugar, and high fructose corn syrup) and artificial sweeteners have all been shown to disrupt gut bacteria, promote pathogenic activity, and increase the occurrence of yeast infections and urinary tract infections problems.

Soda and Diet Soda Are Making Us Fat

“The rise in soft drink consumption mirrors the national march toward obesity.” – Soda making Americans drink themselves fat

Obviously, sugar causes weight gain, but so does diet soda:

Several studies have proved conclusively that drinking diet soda is associated with weight gain.”

[…]

“Those who drank more than 3 of these drinks per day were more than twice as likely to become obese in the next 7 to 8 years.” – Here’s the Science That Explains Why Drinking Diet Soda Makes You Gain Weight

“And for another 8-year-long study between 1979-1988, participants who started out at a normal weight and drank an average of 21 diet beverages a week faced DOUBLE the risk of becoming overweight or obese by the end of the study, compared to people who avoided diet beverages completely.” – What drinking diet soda does to your body and brain

Soda Causes Diabetes

We all know sugar leads to diabetes and high-fructose corn syrup may even be worse (countries that use HFCS in their food supply had a 20 percent higher prevalence of diabetes than countries that did not use it ¹⁴). And artificial sweeteners fair no better.

A report published by the Washington Post stated that long-term use of foods and drinks containing artificial sweeteners are associated with a higher risk of Type 2 diabetes.

Diet Soda and Sugary Drinks May Lead To Stroke and Dementia

High-fructose corn syrup causes cholesterol and triglycerides levels to rise. High-sugar diets lead to diabetes. High cholesterol, high triglycerides, and diabetes increase the likelihood of strokes and dementia.

But diet soda drinkers have a higher risk of stroke and dementia compared with those who consumed conventionally sweetened soda, according to research published in the American Heart Association’s journal.¹⁵

Soda Vs. Smoking

According to this study, drinking a 20-ounce soda every day ages your cells as much as habitual smoking, an astonishing 4.6 years of aging at the cellular level.

The study, published in the Journal of Public Health, analyzed data from 5,300 Americans, ages 20 to 65: those who reported daily soda slurping were found to have significantly stunted telomeres. Telomeres, the little caps at the end of your chromosomes, are essential in regulating the lifespan of your cells, and shorter telomeres have been linked to shorter life spans, diabetes, and cancer.” – Is Soda Worse Than Cigarettes?

“Research indicates daily consumption of a 20-ounce soda (though the study didn’t say over how long a time period) correlated to nearly five years of increased aging. This is comparable to the effects smoking cigarettes have on aging.” – If You Would Never Smoke a Cigarette but Still Drink Soda, Read This

Soda Makes Us Older

Soda makes us age faster. It influences metabolic disease development through accelerated cell aging. If you’re not off soda yet, hopefully now you’re ready to kick the habit. Once you remove soda from your life your body will begin to feel much better, provided you don’t replace it with another bad habit. Waking up will feel better, going to sleep will be easier, moving will feel better, thinking will be clearer, joints will hurt less, wounds will heal faster, healthy food will taste better, allergies will lessen or disappear, and everything in your body will work better.

Recommended:

• Healthy Sugar Alternatives & More
• Detox Cheap and Easy Without Fasting – Recipes Included
• Stop Eating Like That and Start Eating Like This – Your Guide to Homeostasis Through Diet
• How to Make the Healthiest Smoothies – 4 Recipes