Soda Consumption’s Detrimental Effects

DENISE TIEU
Staff Writer

There are many leading causes of death in the United States, but one would not expect soda to be a trigger for these deaths.
Soda is carbonated sugar water that has no nutritional value. It instead increases the buildup of fat around the skeletal muscles and liver, which causes both insulin resistance and diabetes. A study conducted by the Department of Medicine, Infection and Immunity at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine implies that excessive consumption can accelerate aging due to the high levels of phosphate in soda.
Most of the ingredients from soda are derived from corn; according to the website greenamerica.org, 88 percent of the corn grown in the U.S. is genetically modified to resist toxic pesticides or even made to create pesticides within themselves. While there have been no studies to prove or disprove that these corn crops are safe, pesticides have been found to be linked to cancer, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Alzheimer’s disease and birth defects.
“Everything you eat or drink affects your diet, but I think its common knowledge that soda affects it negatively. Ingredients on any food packaging are labeled according to how much is in the food, and judging by the can of soda on my desk right now, high fructose corn syrup is the second most prevalent ingredient,” sophomore David Tran said.
A postdoctoral researcher at Harvard School of Public Health, Gitanjali Singh, and her co-researchers have compiled data from national health surveys around the world, linking up to 183,000 deaths worldwide each year to sugar-sweetened beverages. 25,000 of these deaths are within the U.S. They have tied sugar-sweetened beverages to 133,000 deaths from diabetes, 44,000 deaths from cardiovascular diseases and 6,000 deaths from cancer in 2010.
“I think our findings should really impel policymakers to make effective policies to reduce sugary beverage consumption since it causes a significant number of deaths,” Singh said, according to Yahoo.
During late 2012, New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg enacted a ban on the sale of sodas larger than 16 ounces and other sugary drinks at establishments that receive inspection grades from the health department. The ban was to be approved and made effective on March 12; however, on March 11, the ban was overturned by the Supreme Court in Manhattan. Supreme Court Judge Milton Tingling deemed that Bloomberg went beyond his authority by proposing the ban to NYC’s Board of Health, whose members were all appointed by Bloomberg.
According to the New York Times, several school districts across the nation have banned the sale of soda in school. Even in face of setbacks, there are still movements across the nation striving to limit soda consumption.