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]
Definition: Addiction is an uncontrollable compulsion to repeat a behavior regardless of its negative consequences
SODA/POP “back then”
If you are like me, you probably recall drinking a lot of soda as a kid. In fact, soda, especially in the summer time on hot days, was a common household beverage. 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.” No holiday (e.g., the 4th of July, Easter, Christmas or Thanksgiving) and no family gathering (e.g., wedding, funeral, birthday party, reunion) or even church events was complete without a table or tub full of ice and soda. Most of us can sing the old soda commercials from out childhood (e.g., “I’d like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony.....”) as easily, if not easier, than we can sing some of the old hymns of the church. Soda pop was part of “the stuff” of childhood. Back then, no one gave much thought to the nutritional value of drinking soda or its harmful effects. Americans just guzzled it down. We never thought of it as an addiction.
WHAT WE KNOW TODAY ABOUT SOFT DRINKS
The research concerning sugary drinks is still ongoing and the results are not encouraging. Marlene Busko, has reported on a number of studies linking sugary drinks to death, cancer, obesity, diabetes and other serious conditions or outcomes.
In “Sugary drinks may explain 180,000 deaths worldwide each year,” Medscape, 2013, Busko reported that:
A large, international epidemiologic study reports that slurping back large amounts of sugary beverages was associated with an increased body-mass index (BMI), which in turn was linked with BMI-related deaths from diabetes, CVD [cardio vascular disease], and cancer.
Specifically, the researchers found that in 2010,132,000 deaths from diabetes, 44,000 deaths from CVD, and 6,000 deaths from cancer in the world could be attributed to drinking sugar-sweetened soft drinks, fruit juice, or sports beverages.
Although the researcher noted that it is an “uphill battle” to change patient habits and public policy, physicians and everyone promoting good health needs to advocate and support fewer sugary drinks in the American diet. Sugar-sweetened drinks are a major cause of preventable deaths due to chronic diseases, and the bottom line is that everyone should be told that consumption of soda or other sugary drinks on a daily or weekly basis is simply “not a good choice” for long life or good health.
In “A Soda a Day Ups CVS Risk by 30%: NHANES Study,” Marlene Busko, Medcapes, February 4, 2014, reported that:
American adults consume on average about 15% of their calories from sugars added to foods during processing, with a whopping 37% of the added sugar consumed in sugar-sweetened beverages, suggests an analysis of data extending back about 25 years. Moreover, the study projects that regularly drinking as little as one 12-ounce sugary soda a day may increase the risk of cardiovascular disease by about 30%—independent of total calories, obesity, or other risk factors.
On University of California, San Francisco researcher [Dr. Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo]notes that the concern for sugary drinks is a more far reaching concern than being concerned about our weight:
"I think that we are just really recognizing that there are significant health consequences from eating excessive amounts of sugar that go beyond not wanting to be overweight, but go to wanting to make sure that our heart and our kidneys and our brains are healthy," she said.
Id.
Another Medscape writer, Diana Phillips, recently noted yet another health risk from too much sugary drink consumption. In “Fatty Liver Risk Increases With Daily Intake of Sugary Drinks,”
Medscape, June 11, 2015, Phillips reported on a research study showing that:
Regular consumption of sugared beverages is associated with a greater prevalence of fatty liver disease, even after adjusting for body mass index, according to a large observational study.
Specifically, adults who drank more than one sugar-sweetened drink per day were 55% (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.03 - 2.35) more likely than nonconsumers to have nonalcoholic fatty liver disease….
The researchers found a dose-response relationship between sugar-sweetened drinks and fatty liver disease. Compared with non-consumers, individuals who consumed more than one serving of sugar-sweetened drinks per month had a 16% increase risk of fatty liver disease. Individuals who consumed one serving per week to less than one serving per day had a 32% increase risk and those individuals who consumed more than one sugar-sweetened drink daily had a 61% increase in risk of fatty liver disease. Id.
Although the research is still ongoing, the message should be consistently loud and clear: Sugar-sweetened drinks consumption on a regular basis can have SERIOUS and DAMAGING health effects, sometimes even leading to death.
PRAY FOR WISDOM TO CHANGE
Most of us are familiar with what is called the “Serenity Prayer,” sometimes called the “addict’s prayer.”
God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
The Bible says:
If any of you lacks wisdom, he [or she] should ask GOD, who given generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him [or her]. But when he [she] asks, he [she] must believe and not doubt…. [James 1:5-6]
All of us carry some “childish thing” we should have given up long, long ago. All of us could do with more wisdom to let go of things that are not good for our physical or spiritual health.
Today, let’s ask GOD. And, let’s believe.
Please continue to pray--for one another, for a grieving church over the loss of its members, and for the physical and spiritual health of America and the world. Let’s pray for “peace,” “serenity,” “change.” And, may each of us pray: “LORD, let it begin in me.”
Claim the victory! Claim the serenity! And, Be Blessed!
