Everybody knows about soda that it’s unhealthy. Yet for many of us, a can of Coke is the perfect comfort drink, a much-needed pick-me-up after a hearty lunch and the number one choice in the summer heat. It seems that although most of us have heard about all the health risks associated with drinking sodas, we don’t take this information too much to heart.
Perhaps the harmful effects of fizzy drinks are exaggerated? After all, we all drink them and still live, right? And hey, don’t doctors dramatize it the same way?
Apparently not.
Without further ado, let’s take a look at the 8 most serious and very real health risks we expose ourselves to every time we take a can of soda out of the fridge:
1. Dehydration
Headaches, fatigue, constipation, high blood pressure and other seemingly unrelated symptoms can be a sign of dehydration, which occurs not only because we don’t drink enough water (which is common), but also because we overindulge in diuretic foods and drinks. Fizzy sugary drinks (along with alcohol, coffee, pickles, cold cuts and spices in jars) top the list of the most dehydrating products on our tables.
2. Increased risk of cancer
Brown caramel coloring is the most common ingredient in fizzy drinks that can cause cancer, but it’s far from the only one. Many of the preservatives, fake sugars, and complex chemicals listed on your soda label are suspected (or already proven) to be cancer-causing. The full list of cancers that avid soda drinkers are more at risk for includes pancreatic cancer, colorectal cancer, uterine cancer, thyroid cancer, and leukemia.
