Herbal drinks are healthful, delicious, and easy to make. I am evangelical when it comes to teaching children and adults how to make their own teas, drinks, sodas, and tea juices. Widespread consumption of high-sugar drinks has played a role in the startling increase in obesity and diabetes, which are among the top public health concerns in the United States. Obesity in children has increased almost 50 percent in the past forty years, and diabetes is currently escalating at an unprecedented rate in the United States. There are of course many other factors that contribute to these health risks, but let’s put the conversation about sugar drinks and soda up front where it needs to be.
Our amazing human body constantly regenerates itself. New cells are made not just from what we eat but also from what we drink. Every time you take a drink, you have the opportunity to overwhelm your body with sugar and chemicals or to support and nourish it with minerals and nutrients. It all comes down to how good you want to feel each day and how healthy you want to be.
One important step toward optimum health is to just say no to soda.
To begin with, the average soda contains more than 7 teaspoons (35 g) of sugar. Add artificial colors and sweeteners to the mix, and the question becomes, “Just what is it that I am feeding my body?”
Teenagers consume the most soda, but parents give sodas to small children and even infants. The pancreas in a small child’s body has not matured enough to handle the sugar that floods the body when fed soda or pure fruit juice. If you give your children soda, you are increasing their risk of having health problems and gambling with diabetes. Please think twice before you offer soda to a child.
Soda is such a poor choice that I am continually surprised when it is the main beverage option on the child’s menu and in the school vending machines. Soda contributes to diabetes, obesity, and tooth decay, and caffeinated sodas deplete calcium from the body. Not only are people still drinking sodas, but soda consumption has increased more than 40 percent in the last twenty years. We know it is bad for us, but we continue to drink it. As many of us lead busy lifestyles, we stray further and further away from the kitchen and forget how easy it is to devise creative, delicious homemade beverages.
