by Неизвестный
Today, there is a viable alternative to agribusiness. Rural cooperative ventures, in which growers participate in the ownership and profits from coffee production, are starting to take hold, providing decent working conditions and a fair wage to the people who grow and pick coffee and other export crops.
Environmental groups work with the co-ops to teach conservation, assuring a sustainable future for the land and the people. Importantly, some U.S. marketers of organic coffee return a percentage of their profit to the co-ops, creating a truly equitable production and distribution system that works for everybody. (See Appendix B.) Obviously, coffee from these sources costs more, but it’s worth every dime, and its the only way I know to truly enjoy a cup of coffee.
If you drink coffee, I encourage you to look for fair market or organic brands.
You can also choose to support organic agriculture in many other ways by supporting your own local organic farmers. There are many steps each of us can take—and while they may seem small, they are right in front of us and they may just change the world.
CHAPTER 8
The Hard Truth about Soft Drinks
Of particular concern is the fact that children are often the targets of marketing activities designed to promote the consumption of caffeinecontaining foodstuffs such as cola-based soft drinks and chocolate, and that increasing numbers of children may be consuming caffeine in sufficient quantities to be detrimental to health. It is noteworthy, for example, that a 375 ml [twelve ounce] can of one of the more popular cola drinks has a caffeine content approximately equivalent to an average-sized cup of instant coffee.
—JACK E. JAMES and KERYN P. STIRLING, British Journal of Addiction
Picture yourself walking through a primordial forest about 10,000 years ago. It’s a beautiful warm day, and you’ve been out with your friends gathering food.
You’re thirsty, so you make your way to a crystal pure spring. You kneel beside the clear, cool water and drink deeply. Immediately, the water starts to replenish the cells of your body, and you feel completely refreshed.
Now, fast-forward to the present. Your body, its needs, and its functions are exactly the same as they were 10,000 years ago. But instead of that pure clean water, you reach for the pull tab on a can of cola. You take a long drink of an artificially colored, chemically flavored mixture of carbonated water, phosphoric acid, sweeteners, preservatives, and caffeine. To add insult to injury, some of the aluminum from the can may have leached into the beverage—despite the can’s so-called protective coating.1
If it’s a “regular” cola, your body is jolted by about nine teaspoons of sugar.
(When was the last time you put nine teaspoons of sugar in a beverage?) In
response, your blood glucose levels rise quickly and your pancreas pours out insulin. Both the elevated glucose and insulin foster weight gain. Plus the sugar sticks to your teeth, feeding the bacteria that cause cavities, and the soft drink’s acidity weakens tooth enamel.2–3, 4
If it’s a diet cola, your brain registers the intense sweetness of aspartame and instructs the intestinal tract to prepare for an enormous intake of calories. Your body creates enzymes to convert future calories to fat, just like it did 10,000
years ago. So even though the beverage contains only one calorie (a concept your brain and body do not understand), you remain primed to create fat as soon as you eat some real food. That’s why the more artificial sweeteners you consume, the more likely you are actually to gain weight—as confirmed by a study of 80,000 women over a period of six years.5
Then there’s the caffeine. It gives you a slight adrenal “buzz,” but the stress causes your body to lose calcium, magnesium, and B vitamins. The caffeine also impairs your absorption of valuable iron. After this scenario plays out, your body is finally able to separate usable water from the additives, preservatives, and other chemicals, and your cells are replenished—somewhat.
Cola Wars
The term cola wars is often used to refer to the rivalry between the two major soft drink companies. But the real war is being waged against your health. Cola beverages have absolutely no nutritional value—in fact, they have been shown to increase risk for a number of health disorders significantly. Yet the two leading colas are America’s top two favorite “foods,” measured by total volume of grocery store sales. Today Americans are drinking more soft drinks than any other beverage, including water—and it’s not only because colas are the most successfully marketed consumer products in history. Cola beverages have something else going for them: They are delivery systems for an addictive drug, namely caffeine.
The Soft Drink Drug Lords
In 1886, a pharmacist named John Pemberton invented Coca-Cola. The word cola was derived from “kola nut,” the name of the source plant for one of the flavors. Coca referred to another ingredient in Pemberton’s recipe: cocaine, derived from the coca plant of South America. When it became clear that cocaine was a destructive and addictive substance, the cocaine was replaced with caffeine. The only problem is, we now know that caffeine is also an addictive drug, whether it is delivered via soft drinks or a coffee mug.6
Numerous researchers have established that caffeine can create a dependence syndrome (see Chapter 3). In fact, in the most conclusive study, subjects exhibited all of the behaviors of classic drug dependence—and nearly half of those found to be addicted were consuming mainly soft drinks.7 The authors of that study state:
The existence of a caffeine dependence syndrome, which includes evidence of continued caffeine consumption despite medical or psychological problems from caffeine consumption and unsuccessful efforts to quit caffeine use, provides a further similarity between caffeine and classic drugs of dependence.
Source: E. C. Strain, G. K. Mumford, K. Silverman et al., “Caffeine Dependence Syndrome,” Journal of the American Medical Association, 1995;273:1418–19.
In response to studies showing conclusively that people can and do become dependent on caffeine, spokespeople for the National Soft Drink Association sprang into action, pointing out that “the destructive antisocial behavior provoked by drugs of abuse is clearly not associated with caffeine consumption.”8 In fact, this party line is often repeated by the caffeine industry, but it is a weak and absurd defense. If a drug is harming people and in spite of that people find it impossible to stop consuming that drug, does it really matter if the drug (caffeine) is so affordable that addicts don’t have to rob others at gunpoint to get the cash for their fix?
Of course, soft drink manufacturers will never admit to a marketing strategy of addicting children to caffeine in order to create lifelong customers. When
asked why they use caffeine at all, the standard reply is, “It’s a flavoring agent.”
But anyone who has ever tasted caffeine will tell you that it’s a bitter, foultasting substance, and including it in a beverage requires extra sweeteners just to mask the taste. The flavoring argument also falls apart when you remember that both of the major cola companies make caffeine-free products that taste just like the caffeinated versions, yet relatively few people buy them.
Still, since calling caffeine a flavoring agent is the only possible excuse they can use, cola companies have developed a legal rationale, claiming that the FDA definition of a cola beverage mandates inclusion of caffeine. This is simply not true. FDA label regulations specify only “caffeine from a natural extract.” The fact is that this kola nut extract required in a “cola” beverage contributes less than 10 percent of the total caffeine present in soft drinks today.9 The remaining 90 percent is added by the manufacturers, usually in the form of pure caffeine obtained as a byproduct of the production of decaf coffee. The question remains, Why?
How Soft Drinks Suck You Dry
The fallback position of some cola promoters is to admit that their products produce a dependency, but that it’s a “good” dependency. After all, they reason, soft drinks don’t harm anybody. Wrong again. Health experts have long lamented the effects of
skyrocketing soft drink consumption. Their main concern: malnutrition.
Because most soft drinks contain zero nutrients and are consumed in place of nutrient-rich beverages, regular use of soft drinks contributes to insufficient intake of calcium, magnesium, riboflavin, vitamin A, and vitamin C.10 But it’s not only that these worthless beverages replace nutritious alternatives.
Caffeinated soft drinks actually have antinutrient properties that affect the absorption and metabolism of the entire diet.
We learned in Chapter 3 that caffeine causes an increased loss of B vitamins in the urine.11 Because the B vitamin status of many Americans (especially teenagers) is borderline to begin with, regular consumption of soft drinks can contribute to deficiency and a raft of symptoms, including neurological damage.
Widespread use of soft drinks has been shown to contribute to outbreaks of beriberi among teenagers. Beriberi is a serious thiamine deficiency disease that usually occurs only in the most malnourished of populations.12
We also know that caffeine interferes with iron absorption, and this is a critical factor in women’s health. In the United States, more than 8 million women will spend their entire lives iron deficient,13 and the health consequences can be devastating (see Chapter 6).
Caffeine of course, is not the only culprit. There are the sweeteners, either sugar or aspartame. The high sugar content of “regular” soft drinks (approximately nine teaspoons in a twelve-ounce serving) contributes to blood sugar problems, metabolic stress, and malnutrition via loss of B vitamins, calcium, copper, and chromium. The aspartame (brand names NutraSweet and Equal) in diet soft drinks has been associated with neurological and behavioral problems, even though most studies show that aspartame is safe when consumed in amounts within the acceptable daily intake (ADI) established by the World Health Organization. It is important to note that aspartame was originally approved only for use in beverages. Since it is now approved and found in more than a dozen types of foods—including breakfast cereals, chewing gum, candy, and desserts—individuals who consume large amounts of these foods and beverages can easily exceed the ADI. The long-term effects of excessive aspartame intake are unknown, but a condition known as aspartame intolerance has been identified.14
“In the United States, no matter where you are, you’re never more than a three-minute walk from a soft drink.”
Source: Frederick Mails, PepsiCo executive, quoted in Investment Vision magazine.
Those Most Vulnerable: Our Children
Health experts are most worried about the effects of soft drink consumption on children. After ingesting soft drinks, they may have high blood levels of caffeine for many hours. The cumulative effects derived from consuming soft drinks throughout the day are completely unknown, but it may be no coincidence that cases of hyperactivity and attention deficit disorder (ADD) have grown to epidemic proportions at the same time soft drinks have become the dominant fluid intake for many children.
Recently, a group of preschool boys with ADD participated in a ten-week, placebo-controlled study that included the avoidance of sugar, artificial flavors,
artificial colors, preservatives, and caffeine. Over half of the subjects showed reliable improvement on the experimental diet as compared to no improvement in the placebo period.15 Clearly, the elimination of soft drinks from the diet contributed to the success of this treatment.
Soft Drinks and Depression
In Chapter 4, I presented evidence that caffeine contributes directly to depression. But the combination of caffeine and aspartame may be even worse.
We have long known that the amino acid tryptophan is critically important in maintaining normal mood. That’s because the brain converts tryptophan to a biochemical known as serotonin, which in turn contributes to feelings of pleasure and relaxation. When serotonin levels fall (due to metabolic or dietary reasons), just about anyone can feel depressed and anxious. As a result, drugs that raise brain serotonin levels (like Prozac) are presently among the most widely prescribed medications in America.
It turns out that phenylalanine (one of the ingredients in aspartame) competes with tryptophan for absorption, and may therefore contribute to reduced serotonin levels. In one study, researchers found that depressed patients had lower tryptophan levels compared with people who were not suffering from depression. Most important, there was evidence that the cause of the tryptophan deficiency was high levels of competing amino acids such as phenylalanine.16
Given this data, it is not unreasonable to conclude that “diet” soft drink consumption may contribute to depression.
And on Top of Depression, How About Fatigue?
The connection between caffeine and sleep disturbance is covered thoroughly in Chapter 3. What’s worth mentioning here is that soft drinks are implicated in reports of fatigue and sleep disturbance as well as coffee. One study coordinated by the World Health Organization examined tiredness and sleep disturbance among eleven-, thirteen-, and fifteen-year-olds, as well as the relationships between their sleep habits and use of caffeine, tobacco, and alcohol. Not surprisingly, a direct relationship was reported among caffeine intake, disturbed sleep, and reported tiredness during the day.17 It’s important to remember that while the caffeine intake of preteens and teenagers may come from multiple sources—including coffee, chocolate, and soft drinks—soft drinks are overwhelmingly the primary source. Clearly, soft drinks do nothing to enhance the performance of these youngsters at any level—rather, just the opposite.
How About Depression, Fatigue, and Decreased Learning
How About Depression, Fatigue, and Decreased Learning
Skills?
Caffeinated soft drinks are often portrayed as a “think drink” for the younger set.
Solid scientific research, however, tells a different story. In Chapter 4, I presented evidence that caffeine decreases learning skills in a number of ways. It constricts blood vessels in the brain, leading to a marked reduction in cerebral blood flow, and interferes with brain biochemistry. As little as 100 milligrams of caffeine (two colas contain that much) can cause a significant decrease in recall and reasoning.18 What’s more, caffeine contributes to anxiety, irritability, and anger, feelings that are certainly not conducive to scholarship and learning.
Recently, investigators at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine discovered yet another way caffeinated soft drinks can interfere with learning. This could be called the iron connection. Studies show that more than 25 percent of all adolescent girls in the United States are flat-out iron deficient. And remember, this is determined by serum ferritin, not the presence or absence of anemia. Iron insufficiency (which typically occurs years before anemia) is believed to impair the activity of enzymes necessary for brain functions associated with memory, learning, and mood.
The Johns Hopkins team gave an iron supplement or placebo to high school girls with lower-than-average serum ferritin levels. After eight weeks, the girls given iron scored much better in memory, attention, and learning ability tests.19
Since caffeine interferes with iron absorption (reducing the iron absorbed from a meal by as much as 50 percent), it is no stretch to conclude that caffeinated soft drinks contribute to the mood swings and learning deficits experienced by millions of high school and college women.
Soft Drinks Linked to Childhood Obesity
According to a report by the New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center’s Nutrition Information Center, childhood obesity has as much to do with what kids drink as with what they eat. The study claims that between 1978 and 1994, the average U.S. teenagers soft drink intake tripled to 64.5 gallons per year. Over the same time period, soft drink intake for children aged six to eleven doubled.
High-calorie soft drinks are implicated in weight gain among children in these age groups.
Soft drink intake is linked to a number of other conditions, including bone
fractures due to deficient calcium, tooth decay, tooth tissue loss, and dehydration. The report said, “We believe it is high
time to help children and adolescents break the high-calorie fruit drink and soft drink habit.”20
Yesterday’s News
There is more evidence than ever before that caffeinated soft drinks have tremendous potential for harm, especially in growing children and in adults when consumed to excess. Yet this conclusion is nothing new. In 1977, a U.S.
Senate subcommittee investigated the issue thoroughly, gathering hundreds of pages of testimony from leading experts. The report noted that Doctors, particularly pediatricians, have reported signs—including irritability, headaches and nervousness—of what has come to be known as “caffeinism” among cola-guzzling youngsters whose total caffeine intake may be boosted by cocoa or hot chocolate and chocolate bars.21
The Senate report distilled a mountain of data into some very clear recommendations, including a reduction in soft drink consumption. But since that report was published in 1977, soft drink sales have skyrocketed to an astounding fifty-five gallons per year for every man, woman, and child in America.22 Of course, that doesn’t tell the whole story, since some people consume few or no soft drinks, while teenagers and young children consume even higher amounts. Alarmingly, peak consumption has been reported among children at ages three, thirteen, and seventeen.23 The tragedy, of course, is that these are the years when diet is most important, and instead of nourishing our children we’re pushing them toward illness and degeneration.