Everyone wants to escape from monotonous routines and whirl out of the mundane realities of life every once in a while. In Goa, anniversaries and weddings (and there are plenty of them!) provide the popular routes to do so. Goenkars are party animals and they will not skip a festive occasion. Once at the venue, while nibbling on snacks, most gents will sip scotch or enjoy a glass of beer while the ladies traditionally will settle for a Coke or Sprite. Although excessive alcohol is harmful, a peg or two of alcohol makes you jovial, cheery and sociable. Yet how many of us would have thought that the undue consumption of sodas (carbonated sweet beverages) can also be dangerous to our health!
“Growing evidence suggests a link between sugar-sweetened beverage ingestion and the risk of pancreatic and endometrial cancer, as well as the risk of colon cancer. Additionally, it is found that individuals who gulp sweet beverages may also be at risk of developing obesity, diabetes and cardio-metabolic diseases. As it turns out, the intake of added sugar must be henceforth be considered an increasingly important risk factor. The American Heart Association recommends a drinking goal of fewer than three 12-ounce cans of soda (carbonated sweet beverages) per week.
Sadly, most people don’t realise the colossal amount of sugar they get from these sugar-sweetened beverages. A study by the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey recently assessed the consumption of sodas, fruit-flavoured drinks, sweetened fruit juices, sports drinks, energy drinks, sweetened teas and coffees and other sugar-sweetened drinks. It also measured cancer, smoking and obesity levels with demographic characteristics factored in. It became plainly clear that propensity to various cancers and other diseases increased when there was too much soda intake.
If you thought that switching to “diet drinks” would help you avoid the ill- effects associated with sugary soft drinks, think again! Researchers have found that while drinking sugary beverages frequently may lead to poorer memory, daily intake of “diet soda” increases the risk of stroke and dementia. The ingestion of both sugary and diet drinks correlated with accelerated brain ageing. People who drank sugary beverages frequently were more likely to have poorer memory, smaller overall brain volume, and a significantly smaller “hippocampus”– an area of the brain important for learning and memory, indicated a study published in the journal Alzheimer’s and Dementia.
Scientists have put forth various hypotheses about how “artificial sweeteners” may cause harm, from transforming gut bacteria to altering the brain’s perception of “sweet”, but we need more work to figure out the underlying mechanisms. It appears that there is not very much of an upside to consuming sugary drinks or substituting sugar with artificial sweeteners. It is to be reiterated that excess sugar has long been associated with cardiovascular and metabolic diseases like obesity, heart disease and Type-2 diabetes, but little was known about its long-term effects on the human brain and propensity for cancer.
Another study published in Alzheimer’s and Dementia examined data from about 4,000 people, including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans and cognitive testing results. The researchers looked at people who consumed more than two sugary drinks a day of any type – soda, fruit juice and other soft drinks – or more than three per week of soda alone. Among that “high intake” group, they found multiple signs of accelerated brain ageing, including smaller overall brain volume, poorer episodic memory, and a shrunken hippocampus, all risk factors for early-stage Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers also found that higher intake of “diet soda”– at least one per day – was associated with smaller brain volume. One diet soda per day made an individual almost three times as likely to develop stroke and dementia.
We are all aware about the seriousness of cancer. We know the toll it takes mentally, emotionally, financially, spiritually, and physically. It causes stress in your own mind and body as well as in your relationships with friends and family. There’s nothing in your daily existence that cancer doesn’t touch. It’s an exhausting villain to fight and it wipes you out in so many ways that are hard to explain to people who haven’t felt the impact of this horrific disease in their own lives.
It is known that physical exercise is important in keep you fit, but let’s realise sooner than later that we are what we eat and drink. All of us can take steps to cut our cancer risk into half: 1) Avoid Genetically Modified Foods 2) Avoid microwave popcorn 3) Avoid canned goods. Help protect your DNA by sticking to fresh or frozen vegetables that have no added ingredients. These are better for you and available year-round. 4) Avoid grilled red meat. You’re better off baking, broiling, or preparing meat in a skillet than on the grill. 5) Avoid refined sugar. 6) Avoid salted, pickled, and smoked foods. 7) Avoid sweetened carbonated beverages. Adding “diet” to the label means you’re likely to be consuming “aspartame” – which some say is no better than rat poison to human cells!
Eat organic whenever possible. Choose raw or clean frozen food. Fill half your plate each meal with non-starchy vegetables. Not only will eliminating these foods lower your cancer risk, you are going to feel – and look – better from the inside out. Treatment without prevention is simply unsustainable.
(Dr. Francisco Colaço is a seniormost consulting physician, pioneer of Echocardiography in Goa.)
