Coke and Pepsi – two of the largest corporations on earth. They are larger than most nations in financial terms. And soda has been a staple of the American diet for decades. Unfortunately once again, these common foods and drinks people like are often extremely bad for them. Here we see a recent study showing that even 2 cans of soda per week could double the risk of pancreatic cancer. This form of cancer is very deadly, and few survive longer than five years.

One way this could happen is that high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) leads to elevated levels of insulin, which long term can increase stress on the insulin producing pancreas while also feeding cancer cells.  HFCS in particular is a more dangerous form of sugar as compared to cane sugar for several reasons. Hence the reason other sugary drinks were not associated with pancreatic cancer.

A diet high in HFCS will tend to deplete several nutrients in the body, lead to obesity and altered insulin function. Taken together all these are significant factors in affecting our bodies ability to handle stress, and can also lead to increased levels of stress with the resultant emotions of anxiety, anger, depression, etc.

Unfortunately people often reach for the worst foods when they feel down or stressed, and these so called ‘comfort foods’ only make us more depressed, stressed, anxious and angry in the long term.  Worse-  we tend to minimize the risks and dangers of behaviors we like (like eating junk food, drinking alcohol, etc) and overstate the benefits of them. On the converse – we will tend to minimize the benefits of new things we are not comfortable with, like a new exercise program, or taking a new supplement like a multi-vitamin.  Such is human nature – in many ways its working against us!

If you need to drink soda – try seltzer water instead. You can even dilute carbonated fruit based soda with seltzer and it could make a tasty, and healthier alternative to soda.

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