1 Corinthians 13:11 It's like this: when I was a child I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child does. But when I became a man [a woman] my thoughts grew far beyond those of my childhood, and now I have put away the childish things.
[Living Bible translation]
SODA/POP "back then"
If you are like me, you probably recall drinking lots of soda as a kid. In fact, soda, especially in the summer time, was a common household beverage. Every member of the household had their favorite soda. You may have memories of going to the neighborhood store to buy a soda (or of taking the empties back for their deposit, if you are a bit older), or stopping by the store after school to get a soda, or loading down the grocery cart with the weekly "six pack" or 'case" or "carton." Soda/pop really was "the stuff" of most of our childhood. Back then, no one gave much thought to the nutritional value of drinking soda. We just drank it.
DIET DRINKS RECENT FINDINGS
Recent finding presented at the American College of Cardiology's 63rd annual scientific session in Washington D. C. show an association linking diet drink consumption to heart problems in older women. The study involved almost 60,000 healthy postmenopausal women and correlated diet drinks with increased risk of heart attack, stroke or a cardiovascular event. Questionnaires were given to women asking them to report their diet drink consumption habits over the previous three months. A drink was the equivalent of a 12-ounce beverage. The drinks included both diet sodas and diet fruit drinks. According to Alex Cukan, author of "Diet drinks linked to heart problems in older women," published on March 31, 2014:
After an average follow-up of 8.7 years, women who drank two or more diet drinks per day were 30 percent more likely to suffer a cardiovascular event and 50 percent more likely to die from related disease compared to women who never or rarely consumed diet drinks.
Emphasis added. Researchers noted that they only found an association---so they cannot say that diet drinks caused these problems. However, given the findings, they noted that there is a need to do more research: "[W]e have a responsibility to do more research to see what is going on and further define the relationship, if one truly exists."
Id.
LOOKING AT THE RISKS
According to Salynn Boyles in "Sodas and Your Health: Risks Debated," "Just about every week, it seems, a new study warns of another potential risk linked to soft drinks." Boyles notes that recent news has linked diet sodas to stroke risk; diet and regular sodas have both been linked to obesity, kidney damage and certain cancers; and regular soft drinks have been linked to high blood pressure. Most of the research results are observational studies involving humans, where you rely on someone's memory of what they did, and which result in researchers making "links" as opposed to causal connections. However, given the number of links, Boyles poses this question:
If you drink sodas -- especially if you drink a lot of them -- what are you to make of all the headlines? Do you dismiss them, as the beverage industry does, as bad science and media hype? Or is it time to put the can down and take a hard look at what you're drinking?
See, "Sodas and Your Health: Risks Debated," by Salynn Boyles, Reviewed by Dr. Laura J. Martin, www.webmd.com.
There is a lot of evidence against drinking soft drinks. Boyle notes that pediatricians who treat overweight children say that some of their children patients consume 1000 to 2000 calories a day from soft drinks alone. Some drink soda "all day long." One nutritionist notes that the first thing that anyone should do if they are trying to lose weight is eliminate or cut down on soft drinks.
WHAT WE KNOW TODAY ABOUT SOFT DRINKS
Soft drink consumption is the leading cause of obesity in the United States.
According to the National Soft Drink Association (NSDA), consumption of soft drinks is now over 600 12 ounce servings per year.
Since 1978 soda consumption in the US has tripled for boys and doubled for girls. Young males age 12-29 are the biggest consumers of over 160 gallons per year-that's almost 2 quarts per day. At these levels, the calories from soft drink contribute as much as 10 percent of the total daily caloric intake for a growing boy.
See, Global Healing Center, www.globalhealingcenter.com.
Some of the health problems associated with soft drink consumption include:
1. High risk of obesity;
2. Diabetes and other blood sugar disorders;
3. Tooth decay (loss of enamel on the front teeth and yellowing);
4. Osteoporosis;
5. Bone fractures;
6. Nutritional deficiencies;
7. Heart disease;
8. GI distress (increased stomach acid levels, seen often in teenagers);
9. Food addictions and eating disorders;
10. Neurotransmitter dysfunction from chemical sweeteners
11. Neurological and adrenal disorders from excessive caffeine.
PUTTING AWAY HARMFUL THINGS
Author and poet, Maya Angelou, is quoted as saying: "I did then what I knew how to do. Now that I know better, I do better." Today, each of us must ask: "Given what I know now, can I do better?" Given the facts about harmful things in our lives, we each must examine our relationship to those things and ask: "Is now the time to put those things away." What kinds of things should we examine? Anything and Everything that puts our physical or spiritual health at risk! For some it may be the risks of drinking sodas, sugary drinks, diet drinks, alcohol, or other drinks. Or, perhaps it is using salt, overeating, lack of exercise, prolonged sitting, too much fast food, too little fruits and vegetables, or other things. Or it may be envy, refusing to forgive, refusing to cooperate, sitting on the sidelines, love of money, or whatever spiritual thing separates us from loving GOD, being of service to HIM or which prevents us from loving others.
There are other questions we can ask as well. Given what we know, is now the time to take sodas off our church event (e.g., funerals, after church gatherings, Sunday breakfast meals, etc.) menus? Should we request that soda vending machines be removed from our churches? Should we inquire about soft drink consumption at our children's schools? Should we stop buying children soda and stop giving young toddlers and young children numerous 'straw in the package' sugary drinks?
If anything is harming or hindering our physical or spiritual well-being and growth, let's ask GOD to help us "put those things away now."
May GOD give each of us the commitment and determination to live more abundantly*now for HIM and Be BLESSED!
*In John 10:10, JESUS said: "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."
