How Can Soft Drinks Lower Calcium Levels?
Why are soft drinks considered unhealthy?
We all have heard that drinking too much sugar from cokes, sprites, and ginger ales can be bad for our teeth. People also say it might be bad for our metabolism. But no one talks about how it could change the calcium in your body, do they? Soft drinks are not good for you for several reasons. The biggest one is that they have a lot of sugar. They also have little to no nutrients. These drinks can make several parts of your body feel bad. Most regular sodas have extra sugar in them, like high-fructose corn syrup or sucrose. If you drink one can of soda, you might get up to 10 teaspoons of sugar. That is more than what health experts, like the World Health Organization (WHO), say people should have in a day. If you keep drinking this much sugar, your blood sugar and insulin levels can jump up fast. Over time, this may give you a bigger chance of getting type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, or problems using insulin.
Too much sugar from soft drinks can lead to weight gain and health issues, especially for kids and teens. When you drink sugary drinks, you may not feel as full as when you eat solid food. This makes it easier for people to take in more calories without noticing. Soft drinks can also be bad for your teeth. The mix of sugar and acids in soda can damage tooth enamel and help bacteria grow, which can cause cavities.
Many soft drinks have sugar in them. They also have things like artificial additives, preservatives, caffeine, and coloring agents. Taking these drinks over a long time, especially if you have a lot, can be bad for you. When people drink sodas with caffeine, it can make you feel thirsty, keep you awake at night, and you can feel like you need to have them all the time. Some studies say that having a lot of soft drinks can make you more likely to get heart disease and liver problems, like non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).
Diet sodas do not have any calories, but they can still be bad for your health. Some studies say that artificial sweeteners may change the balance of good bacteria in your gut. These sweeteners can also make you want to eat more sugar. There is a chance that diet sodas might link to problems with how your body handles food or even a greater chance of stroke and dementia. Still, we need more research on this.
How do soft drinks affect calcium levels?
So, what happens with calcium, and why is it so important?
Phosphoric acid has a lot of phosphorus. The body needs some phosphorus, but not too much. If you get too much, and you do not get enough calcium, there can be problems. Soft drinks with a lot of phosphoric acid give you too much phosphorus. This can get in the way of how your body takes in calcium in the intestines. The body needs calcium and phosphorus to stay in the right balance in the blood. If phosphorus levels go up fast, like when you drink sodas, the body may lower how much calcium it takes in from food, or it may take calcium out of your bones to keep things balanced.
Moreover, phosphoric acid can stick to calcium in the stomach and intestines. It creates hard-to-dissolve calcium-phosphate pieces that the body can’t take in. This stuck calcium then leaves the body in pee, taking it out before it is able to help with making bones or doing other important jobs. As time goes on, this can lead to having weaker bones and raise the risk of problems like osteopenia and osteoporosis, especially if you do not eat enough calcium.
What does research say about soft drinks and bone health?
Many studies say that when women drink a lot of cola, their bones may not be as strong. This is because phosphoric acid in colas, along with not getting enough calcium and choosing cola instead of milk or other drinks with calcium, might hurt bone health. So, drinking soft drinks with phosphoric acid often can make it hard for the body to use calcium the right way, and that may lead to weaker bones over time.
What can you do to protect your calcium levels?
The first thing we say is to cut down on how many soft drinks you take. But, it is even better to check how your body handles calcium. You can do this with a Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis (HTMA). You might also want to think about taking our Upgraded Calcium.