How bad is drinking soda for you?

Think acid: The fizzz you enjoy comes from carbonic acid.This is the same acid (at a different strength) that was originally used in the early 1900's to steralize the body surface prior to surgery.Soda's ph is very acidic. Consider the sugar, where one/day can add 12 pounds of useless fat to your body. As junk foods go, it is not as bad as some.But it provides no nutritional value.

Many answers: There's a wide range of opinion on the healthtap team on this contentious subject. Some of the allegations about aspartame are clearly false but there's a minority opinion within medicine that is still seriously concerned. Carbonated water with or without sugar is pricey & without health benefits, and the sugared stuff is an easy way to get fat. I'd discount retrospective epidemiology. Be sparing.

Not good: Neither regular nor diet sodas are "good" for you. Human data has also been growing -- suggesting that even diet soda increases risk of developing metabolic syndrome and diabetes. One example: http://www.Ncbi.Nlm.Nih.Gov/pubmed/23575771 I am also aware of many people who could not stop drinking aspartame-containing sodas without a great deal of difficulty. I recommend good water instead.

Yes: Regularly drinking soda has been linked to Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease, Diabetes, heart disease & metabolic syndrome. Other possible risks include: increased weight, decreased bone mineral density (BMD) obesity, erosion of tooth enamel, caries, mineral depletion & dehydration. Increased caffeine in some sodas can ^ anxiety in people w anxiety disorders. If it contains artificial sweeteners &