Soda Pop: About Soft Drinks and Obesity

An extra soft drink a day gives a child a 60% greater chance of becoming obese, new research suggests. The soft drink study tracked 548 children age 11 or 12 from public schools across Massachusetts. They found that the obesity from soft drinks seemed unrelated to the food eaten, how much television or videos watched or the amount of exercise they get. The soft drinks tracked in the study included regular sodas, Hawaiian Punch, lemonade, sweetened ice tea or other sugared drinks. These findings were reported in the February 16, 2001 St. Louis Post Dispatch from a study reported that same week in the Lancet.

• These popular beverages account for more than a quarter of all drinks consumed in the United States.
• More than 15 billion gallons were sold in 2000. That works out to at least one 12-ounce can per day for every man, woman and child.
• Carbonated soda pop provides more added sugar in a typical 2-year-old toddler's diet than cookies, candies and ice cream combined.
• Fifty-six percent of 8-year-olds down soft drinks daily, and a third of teenage boys drink at least three cans of soda pop per day.
• Not only are soft drinks widely available everywhere, from fast food restaurants to video stores, they're now sold in 60 percent of all public and private middle schools and high schools nationwide, according to the National Soft Drink Association.

• Obesity
• Tooth decay
• Caffeine dependence
• Weakened bones
• ADD/ADHD

Aspartame, marketed as “NutraSweet,” “Equal” and “Spoonful” is the artificial sweetener found in most diet soft drinks. When the temperature of Aspartame exceeds 86 degrees Fahrenheit, the wood alcohol in Aspartame converts to formaldehyde and then to formic acid, which in turn causes metabolic acidosis. Formic acid is found in the sting of fire ants. Formaldehyde is grouped in the same class of drugs as cyanide and arsenic-deadly poisons. Toxicity from these chemicals mimic multiple sclerosis (MS) and cause systemic lupus erythematosus. In the case of those misdiagnosed with multiple sclerosis (when, in reality the disease is caused by methanol toxicity), most of the symptoms disappear when discontinuing the product. Unfortunately, those with lupus are not so easily reversed. Other symptoms from methanol toxicity include fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, numbness to extremities, muscle cramps, vertigo, dizziness, headaches, tinnitus, joint pain, depression, anxiety attacks, blurred vision and memory loss. Aspartame causes the blood sugar level to run out of control and is especially detrimental to diabetics.

For additional information: Dr. Blaylock has written a book entitled Exitotoxins: The Taste That Kills; Dr. H.J. Roberts, diabetic specialist and world expert on aspartame poisoning, has also written Defense Against Alzheimer’s Disease.