Soft drink (aka soda) is something many of us drink every day.
It might be a part of your daily routine, or something you reach for every now and again when you fancy an icy cold drink or an energy boost. Either way, you probably don’t often stop to think about what’s really in it.
You may not even know what soda is made from.
After all, it’s not like soda adverts spend much time discussing the details of the product. Soda marketing is all about the brand, it’s about being cool and buying into a feeling. It’s not about knowing exactly what you’re about to put into your body.
If you did know what was soda was made of, would it change your perception of these popular drinks? Soda consumption (even just one per day) has been linked with type 2 diabetes, obesity, heart disease and tooth decay, to name a few. Many of us know that choosing soda over water isn’t a healthy choice, so why do we continue to reach for the soda bottle?
The team at Cracked have created a thought-provoking spoof advert highlighting just how different soda adverts would be if the manufacturers were honest about their products.
Describing the drink as ‘liquid candy’, a man in a suit talks about the sugars, acids and chemicals found in soda.
Nutrition experts say the average adult should consume seven teaspoons of sugar each day (28 grams). This might sound a lot, but it’s almost certainly less than you consume each day. A single can of soda already contains more than seven teaspoons of sugar, meaning you’re already over your sugar intake by the time you’ve finished your drink.
Sugar has become pervasive in packaged food and drinks. If you don’t already read the labels on children’s foods, you’ll be shocked at the sugar content. For example, many brands of squeezie yoghurts (around 70 grams a pack) have 8-9 grams of sugar. That’s two teaspoons of sugar.
Thankfully, awareness of the dangers of consuming too much sugar is growing, and more and more people are choosing to reduce their sugar intake. You might be surprised at just how much sugar is hiding in the foods you eat every day. Seemingly harmless foods like bread, tinned soup and jars of pasta sauce often contain sugar. If you want to find out more about where sugar is hiding in your diet, take a look at I Quit Sugar and find out what simple steps you can take to reduce your sugar intake.
If you’d like to learn more about sugar, you need to watch The Sugar Film. Warning: It will blow your mind.
Recommended Reading: If you’re pregnant (or planning to be), take a look at BellyBelly’s article Why Gestational Diabetes Is Highly Likely Due To Your Diet.
