topic Re: Forget Ebola, it's soda that should terrify you in Community Chat

Forget Ebola, it's soda that should terrify you

Jig Saw — Fri, 24 Oct 2014 03:01:12 GMT

http://www.vox.com/2014/10/21/7028989/forget-ebola-its-soda-that-should-terrify-you

Drinking soda regularly can age the body just as much as smoking regularly, a new study finds.

A team of public health researchers, led by the University of California San Francisco's Elissa Epel, looked at the cellular impact of regular soda consumption (diet sodas were excluded). Specifically, they looked at the length of study participants' telomeres: the caps at the end of chromosomes that, as they describe it, "protect the genomic DNA from damage."

Telomeres naturally get shorter as we get older. But separate research has shown that certain behaviors, such as smoking, can also cause shrinkage. And shorter telomere length is associated with a higher risk for heart disease and some cancers.

Epel and her team used the federal National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and found that those who drank more soda tended to have shorter telomeres. They found that each daily 8-ounce serving of soda (two-thirds of a can of Coke) was equivalent to an additional 1.9 years of aging. A daily 20-ounce serving (the standard, plastic bottle size for sodas) was associated with 4.6 years of additional telomere aging — the same damage researchers have previously found among regular smokers.

This is just one study and, as the researchers write, research into telomere's associations with health conditions is a "relatively new field." But it's part of a growing body of research showing that soda, albeit, delicious, is terrible for our health.

Re: Forget Ebola, it's soda that should terrify you

deepwaterdotter — Fri, 24 Oct 2014 03:07:07 GMT

Soda, both regular and sugar-free, was one of the first items that my endocrinologist eliminated from my diet when I was diagnosed a type-2 diabetic.

Re: Forget Ebola, it's soda that should terrify you

Shawnie — Fri, 24 Oct 2014 03:07:21 GMT

I am doomed.

Re: Forget Ebola, it's soda that should terrify you

ROMARY — Fri, 24 Oct 2014 03:16:18 GMT

Oh, no! I don't drink diet anything. Young children should keep away from it, for sure. At least give them a chance early in their lives. I'd rather use a bit of sugar.

Re: Forget Ebola, it's soda that should terrify you

OnlyShopsOnline — Fri, 24 Oct 2014 03:26:23 GMT

I've given up soda, except for an occasional glass at a restaurant. I wonder if we gain back any of what we lose, when we stop drinking soda. Or is the damage permanent?

Re: Forget Ebola, it's soda that should terrify you

Tyak — Fri, 24 Oct 2014 03:40:36 GMT

The esteemed head of the CDC, thinks so too. He was Bloomberg's soda ban man. Lol

Re: Forget Ebola, it's soda that should terrify you

Lindsays Grandma — Fri, 24 Oct 2014 03:52:45 GMT

This interesting, I am going to show it to a certain someone in my family.

Re: Forget Ebola, it's soda that should terrify you

Sushismom — Fri, 24 Oct 2014 05:14:46 GMT

With all the things more likely to kill you, I guess I just don't understand why some fear Ebola so much. They want to change so much when just a handful of cases have happened. And yet won't do a thing about the other dangers.

Re: Forget Ebola, it's soda that should terrify you

dooBdoo — Fri, 24 Oct 2014 05:22:56 GMT

I stopped drinking soft drinks years ago, mainly drink water now.
For what it's worth, these are the actual conclusions reached
by the study referenced in the original post:

~~~~~

"Conclusions.
Regular consumption of sugar-sweetened sodas
might influence
metabolic disease development through accelerated cell aging."

~~~~~

(edited to correct link)

Re: Forget Ebola, it's soda that should terrify you

Kachina624 — Fri, 24 Oct 2014 05:45:54 GMT

I would pretty much consider this to be nonsense. It's ludicrous to say drinking soda is as potentially damaging as smoking.

Re: Forget Ebola, it's soda that should terrify you

Dam Yankee — Fri, 24 Oct 2014 06:00:07 GMT

On 10/23/2014 kachina624 said: I would pretty much consider this to be nonsense. It's ludicrous to say drinking soda is as potentially damaging as smoking.

Smoking used to be just as accepted as drinking soda, back in the olden days. Ya just never know. Regardless, all of that cwap is poison and that's a fact.

Re: Forget Ebola, it's soda that should terrify you

scotttie — Fri, 24 Oct 2014 06:07:13 GMT

It's always something.

Re: Forget Ebola, it's soda that should terrify you

Cakers1 — Fri, 24 Oct 2014 06:14:09 GMT

NYC was concerned about soda.

Now that's been replaced by ebola.

Close the borders of NY state already. And don't let anybody travel to Texas from NY for heaven's sake!!!

Re: Forget Ebola, it's soda that should terrify you

Dam Yankee — Fri, 24 Oct 2014 06:15:36 GMT

On 10/23/2014 scotttie said:
It's always something.

I used to be a heavy smoker and soda drinker. My present health issues lead me to believe that there's at least some truth in this.

Re: Forget Ebola, it's soda that should terrify you

sylviahomeatlast — Fri, 24 Oct 2014 06:32:17 GMT

I rarely drink soda---mostly vitamin water

Re: Forget Ebola, it's soda that should terrify you

sylviahomeatlast — Fri, 24 Oct 2014 06:35:28 GMT

hysteria over everything----I feel overwhelmed---I'm more worried that I'll be walking down the sidewalk or grocery store parking lot and some guy will grab me by the hair and start cutting my head off---all this random stuff. (

Re: Forget Ebola, it's soda that should terrify you

Puzzle Piece — Fri, 24 Oct 2014 08:18:46 GMT

To me it's the sugar. Sugar in just about all products. It can damage a lot of things in the body. It's just in excess.

Re: Forget Ebola, it's soda that should terrify you

Remee — Fri, 24 Oct 2014 10:04:43 GMT

This information about telomeres isn't really news. It was part of our studies back in medical school back in the mid -seventies.

Everybody needs to quit panicking over Ebola. We don't have any outbreaks in our country, and we know how to treat it. I'm very certain none of you here plan on going to any of the third world countries struggling with it currently.

Re: Forget Ebola, it's soda that should terrify you

brii — Fri, 24 Oct 2014 12:23:13 GMT

Diet soda is especially bad for you.

Re: Forget Ebola, it's soda that should terrify you

KathyPet — Fri, 24 Oct 2014 13:10:12 GMT

If each can of soda is equivalent to 1.9 years of aging I should have been dead years ago.