According to the American Heart Association, major sources of added
sugars in our diets are soft drinks, candy, cakes, cookies, pies, fruit drinks,
dairy desserts and milk products (such as ice cream and sweetened yogurt), and
cereals. Most sweetened beverages and fruit drinks contain so much added sugar,
in fact, that they have been referred to as “liquid sugar” by some experts.Another major source of added sugar that has recently come under fire is soft drinks. According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the average 12-ounce can of cola contains over 8 teaspoons of sugar! So, by drinking just one small soft drink, a woman would have already far exceeded her recommended daily sugar maximum (of 6 teaspoons), and a man would have nearly reached his (of 9 teaspoons).
A recent study showed that drinking sugar-sweetened beverages such as sodas was associated with shorter telomeres (which are a marker of aging–longer telomeres, simply speaking, are a marker of youth, while telomere shortening is an indication of aging). This in turn was associated with higher risk for cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
The study investigators concluded that “regular consumption of sugar-sweetened sodas might influence metabolic disease development through accelerated cell aging.” In other words, in one more twist to the added-sugar saga, drinking sodas could age your cells–and, therefore, you.
Organic Health
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