Here’s why cold drinks are bad for health

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Effects of cold drinks on health

Not many of us find it easy to immunize ourselves from the lure of a soft fizzy drink. And there are stats that prove it! It’s believed that by 2021, per capita consumption of cold drinks in India will soar to 84 bottles. But all you soft drink guzzlers, pay attention, cold drinks are bad for health. How bad you ask? Keep reading to find out.

Harmful effects of soft drinks

Here are just a few ways how cold drinks harm you:

1. All those extra sugar

Our body needs sugar to fuel itself and carry out its functions. But extra sugar that you consume through cold drinks causes a surge in your blood sugar level. If you keep this up, your body will become resistant to insulin, which is responsible for telling your cells how to utilize sugar. Insulin resistance leads to Type 2 diabetes.

2. Cold drinks can make you Fat

Cold drinks cause obesity. They are choc-a-bloc with calories. Unlike solid foods, soft drinks don’t make you feel full. Because it doesn’t sit heavily on your stomach, cold drinks won’t induce you to cut down on your next meal. So you end up consuming a large number of calories. The extra calories are turned into fats and with a gradual accumulation of fats, you will become obese.To prevent this, doctors urge people to consume at least 140 calories fewer than they usually do if they indulge in cold drinks. But not many people pay heed to this advice.Another reason why cold drinks are bad for health is that they have an impact on your leptin resistance. Leptin decides how many calories you burn. If you become resistant to it, you will begin to burn fewer calories. And that will make you fat.

3. Your liver is under attack

With soft drinks, you are introducing plenty of fructose- a kind of sugar into your blood. Your cells can metabolize glucose, the other kind of sugar but it’s only the liver that can break down fructose. So, if there’s too much of it in your system, it will become very taxing on the liver. This is when the liver begins to convert the excess fructose into fats, which begin to build up there paving the way for Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver disease.

4. There’s nothing to gain

Cold drinks merely contain sugar. There’s absolutely nothing else in it. It contains no nutrients whatsoever. So, it does no favours to your health. In fact, it just damages it.

5. Your taste buds may love it, but your heart doesn’t

Scientists believe that soft drinks might be addictive. They suppress a part of your brain that inhibits you from consuming too much of a particular food or drink. And when your consumption increases, so does your likelihood of contracting heart ailments. Cold drinks raise blood pressure and increase LDL (bad cholesterol) level- all of which contribute to heart diseases.

Conclusion

Cold drinks are best avoided because there is absolutely nothing beneficial that they can offer your health. [av_promobox button='yes' label='Consult a doctor on MediBuddy' link='https://www.medibuddy.in/?utm_source=blog_cta&utm_medium=blog' link_target='' color='blue' custom_bg='#f00' custom_font='#ffffff' size='large' icon_select='no' icon='ue800' font='entypo-fontello']A cold drink is a drink that usually contains carbonated water, a sweetener, and flavouring. None of the aforementioned ingredients in cold drinks helps you in any way. To know alternatives of cold drinks that can help you quench your thirst in a healthy way, speak to a Doctor on MediBuddy today.[/av_promobox] Sources:

  1. Healthline
  2. Livestrong