The Fizz May Taste Good Going Down but…

Carbonated beverages have been around quite a while. But the side effects of these fizzy drinks are far more than we were led to believe. I’m not a conspiracy theorist, nor do I think out government or more specifically, the FDA, is actually out to get us. I believe, they are smart enough, just don’t have the ability to think outside the box. The beverage industry is mega bucks and that alone make them extremely powerful. That’s why there’s really no check and balance to the current system.
Alright enough of the setup…
Carbonation is created by pumping carbon dioxide into water or other liquid. You may recall that carbon dioxide is a waste product of cellular and food metabolism, as such the body wants to expel it. So why would anyone want to further add a waste product to their body? Carbonated beverages also burden the body by weakening stomach acid, thereby interfering with proper digestion. One’s blood supply can hold only so much blood gas. It stays saturated with either O2 or CO2. The process of inhalation and expiration (respiration) keeps the balance of blood gases right where it should be. With the consumption of soft drinks and the massive amounts of CO2 being dumped into the blood stream; this in turn will change the ph of the blood, thus retarding (the main reason for writing this article) the whole fat filtration (the kidneys) and fat digestion (the liver) process and we end up storing more fat! This has been touched on by several European studies but nothing in true depth. It takes the finding of all the articles to piece together the puzzle.
Here’s another one for you: Distention of the stomach pouch and anastamosis
When a cold, carbonated beverage is consumed, it warms and releases carbon dioxide gas that was dissolved in the liquid. This gas can be trapped in your stomach pouch, causing it to distend and needlessly stretch your pouch. While it’s true these gasses are not permanently trapped in your stomach (since they can be released through burping) any unnecessary, uncontrolled, distension of your stomach pouch places you at greater level of risk that you’ll stretch your pouch to the point where you will compromise the effectiveness of the “tool” you’ve worked so hard to obtain.
If stretching your stomach pouch is not enough to concern you, consider what happens to your anastamosis (the new stomach outlet) when entrapped gas stretches your pouch. This undue pressure also causes stretching of the anastamosis. It is believed that an enlarged anastamosis is a greater problem than an enlarged stomach is for weight loss surgery patients. The size of the pouch outlet is more critical to the patient’s ability to achieve satiety than the actual size of the stomach pouch. If the anastamosis is too large, food passes through the pouch too easily and will begin to fill and stretch the small intestine, in effect creating a larger holding chamber in the small intestine thereby allowing you to eat a much higher quantity of food before you feel full and your brain receives the signal to stop eating. The combination of a stretched pouch and an enlarged anastamosis are disastrous to your weight loss and/or weight maintenance efforts. Is the momentary pleasure derived from a diet drink worth the risk?
This particular author’s stance includes carbonated water as well. This is just a stance on the effects of carbonated beverages (including water) and not one that talks about all the other bad side effects of phosphoric acid, excessive amounts of caffeine, artificial sweeteners or colors. That’s plenty of fodder for future articles.
Obviously what I’m shooting for is for one to learn to love water all over again. The fizz isn’t worth it. Only you can decide.
Jeff Green MS,CSCS,USAW,USATF

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This entry was posted on Sunday, June 14th, 2009 at 12:00 pm and is filed under Blog, Nutrition. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

3 Responses to “The Fizz May Taste Good Going Down but…”

1. GarykPatton Says:
   June 16th, 2009 at 4:44 am

   Hello. I think the article is really interesting. I am even interested in reading more. How soon will you update your blog?

2. Ring for Weight Loss Says:
   June 18th, 2009 at 4:23 am

   Ring for Weight Loss…

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3. Clinton Walker III Says:
   September 13th, 2009 at 2:27 pm

   Many people make the mistake of drinking diet sodas to help with weight loss. The best liquid is always going to be water.