Pop Quiz: NewMeMD 's 7 Side Effects of Drinking Soda

Here’s a little "pop" quiz  question from our NewMeMD wellness team about the average food & beverage consumption in the U.S.: 

What is the single biggest source of calories for Americans. Is it white bread, Big Macs or Hot Dogs? The answer... is actually SODA. 

You might say, "But I drink diet soda, which contains zero calories and sugar." Sounds like the perfect alternative for all you waistline watchers out there, right? Hardly so. 

Before you pop the top of that caramel-colored bubbly drink, we at NewMeMD think you should know this: Although your diet drink may not contain any calories (much less ANY nutritional value), guzzling diet sodas comes with its own side effects which could harm your health... from damaging your kidneys to even adding more inches around that mid-section.

Learning about these 7 side effects of drinking diet soda may help you kick the can for good.

1. Kidney Problems

Something you may not already know about your diet soda is that it can affect your kidneys. An 11-year study from the Harvard Medical School (on more than 3,000 women) revealed diet cola can be associated with a two-fold increased risk for declining kidney health. And get this--More than 2 sodas a day was found to cause a significant reduction in overall kidney function (yikes).

2. Metabolic Syndrome

Based on a 2008 diet soda study of almost 10,000 adults even one soda a day is linked to a 34% higher risk of Metabolic Syndrome, and the side effects of this condition (like belly fat and high cholesterol) can put you at greater risk for a heart attack.

3. Obesity

You read that right...diet soda doesn’t help you lose weight after all. A study from the University of Texas has found out the more diet sodas someone drinks, the more chances of that person eventually becoming overweight. Drinking just two cans of the carbonated stuff day may actually expand waistlines by, get this... 500%, because artificial sweeteners can disrupt the body’s natural ability to regulate calorie intake based on the sweetness of foods!

4. A Terrible Hangover

One of the worst things you can do with zero-calorie pop is to mix it with alcohol... like ordering a 'Vodka Diet' (vodka with any type of diet drink). Why? Because these types of cocktails could make you feel drunker, faster. Studies show sugar-free mixers generally allow liquor to enter your bloodstream much quicker, giving you a much bigger buzz (which could lead to a much more excruciating hangover the next day).

5. Cell Damage

Diet sodas contain something regular sodas don’t have: mold inhibitors. These chemicals can be found on the ingredient labels of your drinks under names such as sodium benzoate or potassium benzoate. Scientific compounds such as these have the ability to cause severe damage to your DNA (our building blocks of life) by literally suffocating your cells.

6. Rotting Teeth

Diet soda has a pH of 3.2, which means it's very acidic. Just like in science lab, liquid substances with high acidity can dissolve things... In the case of diet drinks, we're referring to the destruction of your tooth enamel (as in, way more tooth decay, missing teeth and more fillings). Adults who chug three or more sodas a day can surely anticipate dental health problems down the road, so remember: just because a soda is light on the calories doesn’t mean it's light on the acidic content!

7. Reproductive Problems

Diet or not, soft drink cans are coated with the chemical bisphenol A (otherwise known as BPA), which has been linked to everything from heart disease to obesity to reproductive problems. If you ask us, all of this sure is a lot of risk to take just to sip down a substance simply because it contains zero calories, right?!

No one is saying you can't ever have a soda, but there certainly are other alternatives for improving your lifestyle and or managing your weight.

At NewMeMD we can customize a weight loss program designed for your specific needs or recommend some of our other treatments to help trim you down without any of the side effects that accompany a diet soda. 

For information about our products & services click here to visit our web site NOW.

Here's to a refreshing, much healthier (and calorie-free) solution to a smaller waistline!
--Your NewMeMD Wellness Team