As a business owner or career-driven professional woman, you need to be thinking clearly and moving with purpose. But did you know the foods and drinks you’re putting in your body could be getting in the way of your success. Soda is one of your worst enemies when it comes to staying at the top of your game.
Long story short, soda impacts more than your weight. It affects your brain, kidneys, digestive system, bones, heart, lungs, and teeth! Let’s take a closer look at a handful of side effects caused by soda that are keeping you from doing your best at work.
Soda’s Effects on Your Brain
If you drink soda with sugar in it, then you should know that when you have too much sugar in your diet, your brain actually reduces its production of an important chemical that helps you learn, store memories, and process insulin. It’s hard to negotiate a deal, complete a critical project, or manage a crisis when you’re brain isn’t functioning as well as it should be. Eating too much sugar also dulls your brain’s ability to tell you you’re full. The result? You’ll keep eating!
Soda’s Effects on Your Weight
Speaking of your weight, did you know that drinking a single soda each day adds up to consuming 39 pounds of sugar per year? That’s a lot of extra weight that no one needs! But that’s not all. If you drink soda on a regular basis, you’re actually interacting with the genes that affect your weight. It’s really bad stuff!
Soda’s Effects on Your Kidneys and Digestive System
Soda contains a high level of phosphoric acid, and those high levels have been directly linked to kidney stones and other renal problems. Don’t think drinking diet soda will solve the problem! Studies have found that having two servings of diet soda per day actually doubles your risk.
Soda’s Effects on Your Digestive System
Your digestive system doesn’t like soda either. Not only does it cause gas, bloating, and cramping – all things you don’t want to have during an important business meeting – but if you have irritable bowel syndrome, soda makes the effects of your condition even worse! If the soda you drink has caffeine in it, you could experience worsened symptoms of diarrhea of constipation.
Soda’s Effects on Your Bones and Teeth
Drinking soda has been directly linked to osteoporosis and bone density loss, which are common problems for women as we get older. It’s likely that the phosphoric acid and caffeine in soda are the culprits. Soda also contains very high levels of acid. It corrodes your teeth nearly as badly as battery acid would if you drank it!
Soda’s Effects on Your Heart and Lungs
Did you know that drinking soda on a regular basis increases your risk of heart disease, which includes both heart attack and stroke? The amount of soda you drink has also been linked to the development of asthma and COPD.
Kicking the Soda Habit
Any way you look at it, soda is damaging your health and that damage is impacting your work. Anything that negatively affects you physically and mentally is not helping you personally or professionally. It’s up to you to eliminate the things in your life that are holding you back, and soda, which has been linked to neurological, cardiac, respiratory, skeletal, digestive, renal, and genetic problems, needs to go!
That glass of soda you want to drink is filled with empty calories. It’s a time bomb of ill health and weight gain. Put it down and reach for water instead! You should be drinking half your body weight in ounces or water each day, which means if you weigh 150 pounds, you should drink 75 ounces of water per day. That equals just over nine 8-ounce glasses of water every day.
There is no trick to kicking the soda habit. Instead, you need to recognize it as a habit that you’re in control of. Soda damages you physically and emotionally. If you want to be able to focus on building your business or career, you need to take control of the habits that are holding you back – even the habits that hold you back simply because they keep you from feeling your best. After all, no one can do their best work if they don’t feel their best!
Jen Meister
Jen Meister is on a mission to educate, empower, and inspire people on a journey toward whole health and wellness. Through her coaching practice, Simple Clean and Whole, she helps people sustain a healthy lifestyle while living in a world filled with distractions. Jen holds a Master in Education degree from New York University and is a graduate of the Institute of Integrative Nutrition. She is a Certified Holistic Health Counselor who has coached hundreds of people and spoken to thousands over the past 10 years about how they can transform themselves without fear or stress so they can be truly healthy and happy. Jen offers private and group coaching options, including one-on-one coaching, group cleanses, group nutrition and lifestyle programs, and online group programs.
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