Say No to Fizz!
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Yet more information on this topic, from another M.D. :
CARBONATED DRINKS DO NOT CAUSE OSTEOPOROSIS
Gabe Mirkin, M.D.
People who drink several carbonated drinks each day are at increased risk for osteoporosis. A recent report from the University of Nebraska shows that the only way that carbonated drinks cause osteoporosis appears to be when it prevents people from getting other sources of calcium such as from dairy products.
This study shows that drinks with caffeine do increase calcium loss through the kidneys, but those without caffeine do not. However, the people on the caffeinated drinks who put out increased amounts of calcium in their urines in the morning, put out less calcium in their urines in the afternoon. The authors feel that neither carbonated nor caffeinated drinks cause osteoporosis directly, but people who drink several carbonated drinks daily may not drink milk and therefore may not get enough calcium in their diet, so they suffer a calcium deficiency and weakened bones.
Carbonated beverages and urinary calcium excretion. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2001, Vol 74, Iss 3, pp 343-347. RP Heaney, K Rafferty Heaney RP, Creighton Univ, Osteoporosis Res Ctr, 601 N 30th St, Omaha,NE 68131 USA -
1. Even the good Proferssor admitted that the stuff about phosphorous and bone calcium is nothing but hearsay, and could not find any medical articles nor textbooks to support the claims.Originally posted by Rhonda:A: I also have heard several times that carbonated drinks are not good for your bone because of the phosphorus. Two different reasons have been given: 1) phosphorus binds to the calcium in your stomach and prevents absorption of the calcium into your blood, and 2) high phosphorus in your blood draws calcium out of your bones. When I searched recent medical articles and textbooks (for hours!), I could find nothing supporting this.
Caffeine does decrease bone mass and increase risk of hip fracture. In a study of 9,615 women over age 65, those who drank 190 mg a day of caffeine had a 20% to 30% increased risk of hip fracture. Sodas have about 40 mg of caffeine per can and brewed coffee about 100 mg per cup.
Aspartame (Nutrasweet) is a sugar substitute that contains phenylalanine. It has no harmful effect on bones.
Article Created: 2000-05-30
Article Updated: 2000-06-05
Dr. Rebekah Wang-Cheng is a former Professor of Medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin. Her medical advice column, which answers health-related questions from readers, also appeared in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.
2. According to the study, you need to drink 5 cans of soda to reach 190mg of caffeine. How long do you have to sustain this habit to achieve the 20-30% increase in the risk of hip fracture? Surely you don't get weaker bones from drinking 5 cans of fizzy drinks when you go visiting Chinese New Year... Maybe you'll have to be above 65years old too!
Bottomline: I'm not advocating drinking fizzy drinks BUT critically reading every piece of information around. There are lots of quack reports out there, each driving its own agenda.
For a scientist in training like myself, it's a professional hazard. -
It's always interesting to consider different aspects to an arresting issue and then look at what the experts have to say, weigh the pro's and con's of the argument, or in this case, the for and against, and then summarise the entire exploration with a conclusion.
I was kinda surprised that the food mag did not validate the information before they printed the mag. It was 'Good Food' published by the BBC, btw.
Several of the websites I surfed mentioned that teenagers tend to drink less milk because they drink too much soda everyday and that is actually perceived to be the contributing factor to the teens not having enough calcium in their diet. I realised it wasn't the fact that they were drinking soda per se.
And, I've worked with Americans before whose first drink early in the morning is Coke / Diet Coke and then all through the day, they quench their thirst with... yet more Coke, or its caffeine relative, Coffee!!!
With habits like that, it IS easy to reach that threshold level of at least 5 cans per day! -
I cant recall when is the last time i have a can of carbonated drink more than once per week.
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that's coz you're a health freakOriginally posted by kops21:I cant recall when is the last time i have a can of carbonated drink more than once per week.
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Originally posted by kops21:Water is the BEST.
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i like to wait for all the gas to go away before drinking carbonated drinks.......... so does the acid stuff affect me?
