Why You Should Ditch Soda Completely

Dr. Joseph Mercola advises against drinking Mountain Dew and other citrus-flavored sodas, because they contain a synthetic chemical called brominated vegetable oil (BVO). You probably don’t know this, but BVO was first used by chemical companies as a flame retardant. This chemical is also banned in food in Europe and Japan.

Even so, BVO is added to about 10 percent of soda in North America, regardless of the medical attention sought by soda drinkers because of side effects of this the chemical, such as skin lesions, memory loss, and nerve disorders.

Why Brominated Vegetable Oil Is Added to Soda

BVO is a kind of vegetable oil that is derived from corn or soy and bonded with the element bromine. The purpose of adding BVO to soda is to prevent the flavoring from separating and floating to the surface. In order to regulate the amount of BVO put in beverage products, the FDA has placed certain limits.

Studies show that sodas like Coca-Cola and Pepsi do not contain BVO. Products that do are mostly citrus-flavored sodas and energy drinks, all of which are sold in the US, such as:

• Mountain Dew
• Sunkist Pineapple
• Squirt
• Gatorade Thirst Quencher Orange and Powerade Strawberry Lemonade
• Fanta Orange
• Fresca Original Citrus

These are just part of the 10 percent of soda sold in the US that contains BVO.

Health Risks Involved with Bromine

Dr. Mercola explains that bromines are common endocrine disruptors. They belong to the halide family, a group of elements that include fluorine, chlorine, and iodine. Bromine becomes hazardous when it competes for the same receptors that are needed to capture iodine. Without iodine, your thyroid gland would completely be unable to produce thyroid hormone.

Dr. Mercola adds: “If you are exposed to a lot of bromine, your body will not hold on to the iodine that it needs. And iodine affects every tissue in your body, not just your thyroid.”

At the moment, 13 million Americans suffer from hypothyroidism, while experts claim that 10 to 40 percent of Americans have suboptimal thyroid function. Many of these suffer from iodine deficiency brought on by too little iodine-containing foods and/or too much bromine exposure (not just from food but from other sources as well).

Iodine deficiency caused by bromine exposure can lead to an increased risk of cancer involving the breasts, thyroid gland, ovary, and prostate – all of which have alarmingly high rates.

Bromine can accumulate in your tissues, central nervous system, and breast milk. This can result in a number of health problems. This chemical can also act as a central nervous system depressant, and can trigger a number of psychological symptoms like acute paranoia and other psychotic symptoms. According to an interview with Physician Jorge Flechas, at least 20 percent of hospital admissions for acute paranoid schizophrenia between 1920 and 1960 were a result of ingesting products with bromine. (link)

Bromine toxicity can manifest in a number of ways:

• Skin rashes and severe acne
• Abdominal pain and loss of appetite
• Metallic taste
• Fatigue
• Cardiac arrhythmias

Why You Should Stay Away from Sodas Completely

According to a 2010 study conducted by the National Cancer Institute, soda is the number one source of calories for teenagers between ages 14 and 18. According to the latest dietary statistics from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), soda and sugary beverages are the fourth largest source of calories among adults. (link)

Whether or not the soda you drink contains BVO, you should still eliminate it from your diet. Apart from BVO, soda has other ingredients that are harmful to your health, like high fructose corn syrup (HCFS). These ingredients have no nutritional value or whatsoever.

Diet soda is just as unhealthy as regular soda with their artificial sweeteners, which can cause disruptions inside your body. Other chemicals you should stay away from are sodium benzoate and Yellow Dye #5. The latter is known as tartrazine and has been banned in countries like Norway, Austria, and Germany because of its health risks.

“Just one can of soda per day can add as much as 15 pounds to your weight over the course of a single year, not to mention increase your risk of diabetes by 85 percent,” warns Dr. Mercola.

Soda is one of the primary contributors to the rising rates of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and other chronic disorders plaguing the US.

According to Dr. Mercola, one of the most profound changes you can make for your health is to replace soda and unhealthy beverages with clean, pure drinking water.

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Tags: brominated vegetable oil, bromine, citrus sodas, Dr. Joseph Mercola, Dr. Mercola, iodine, iodine deficiency, joe mercola, Joseph Mercola, Mercola, mountain dew