Soda Making Your Cells & You Age Faster

Soda is generally bashed for causing weight gain, obesity and diabetes.  No one likes to gain weight. No one likes to age either especially in our youth oriented society.  While losing one's youthful appearance is difficult, the hardest part of aging is the physical breakdown of the body.  When joints give out, circulation is poor, eyesight diminishes, digestion is weak and many other things occur that tell a person they are getting old happen, it is defeating and somewhat depressing. 

Physical ailments begin when the body is unable to create new cells as old cells die out.  The body is in a constant cycle of regeneration with the shedding of old cells and the replacing of them with new ones.  The new cells come about through a process of division.  The genetic material in each cell is encoded in its DNA and this code directs the cell during its cycle.  At the tip of the part of the cell that guides the cell are telomeres, which protect the genetic data and make it possible for cells to divide.  When a person is young, the telomeres are long, but they shorten as a person ages, making cell division and creation slower.  Shorter telomeres are linked to a shorter life span and health problems. 

Stress and poor lifestyle habits can cause the telomeres to shorten.  A recent study found drinking sugar sweetened soda on a daily basis ages the body's immune cells to a degree similar to that of a daily smoking habit. To reach this conclusion, the researchers studied the effect of sugary sodas on human telomeres. They found that drinking an 8-ounce daily serving of soda corresponded to 1.9 years of additional aging, and drinking a daily 20-ounce serving was linked to 4.6 more years of aging.  The study researchers also noted that this amount of premature aging was exactly the same association found between telomere length and smoking.

Ayurveda recognizes and respects the intricate balance of the human body.  A dysfunction of the body begins in the very cells that are the building blocks of the body.  The body in its intelligence does not break down immediately.  Rather, it tries to continue to carry on but with a little deficiency.  If the body isn't given the proper things it needs to repair the dysfunction, it will continue to carry on but weaken even further.  This is when symptoms start and disease sets in.  When we are balanced in our body and mind habits, aging and disease are prevented and delayed.  Ayurveda offers us a way to age with less degeneration.  We can age with the wisdom we have acquired from a life well lived and a supported body.  Raise your cup and drink to that, but don't waste it on soda.

Stay healthy & well,
LIsa