Some doctors speculate that the pressure of carbon dioxide may cause gastric acid to flow back to the esophagus, thus stimulating the esophagus and promoting the occurrence of esophageal cancer. However, this explanation is only a hypothesis and there is no sufficient research evidence. How much carbonated drinks you drink every day may increase the incidence of esophageal cancer, and there is no reliable data. However, it is certain that people with digestive tract diseases and people with gastrointestinal dysfunction should strictly control aerated drinks, and children should try to stay away from such drinks.
Whether it is carcinogenic or not, carbonated drinks are unhealthy factors in the diet.
Danger 1:
First, it contains about 10% refined sugar. If you consume 2 cans of carbonated drinks every day, you will unconsciously eat 70 grams of sugar, bringing 280 kilocalories. If you don't increase the daily exercise or reduce the amount of food you eat for three meals, then the calorie intake for more than three months is equivalent to an increase of 2.8 kilograms of fat. Low-energy carbonated drinks, such as diet coke, can't be called healthy drinks because they still contain carbon dioxide and caffeine, and they still have no nutritional value, and the safety of synthetic sweeteners has also been questioned.
Danger 2:
Secondly, carbonated drinks contain almost no nutrients except sugar, and can never replace the nutrition of fruits and vegetables, rice steamed bread and meat, eggs and milk. After drinking carbonated drinks, the stomach feels full, especially for children with small stomach capacity. Then drinking carbonated drinks will inevitably reduce the intake of nutritious food in three meals, reduce the quality of meals, and even lead to nutritional deficiency. Some young parents let their children drink a lot of carbonated drinks, which often leads to the lack of various nutrients and hinders their growth and development.
Danger 3:
In addition, carbonated drinks usually contain synthetic pigments, spices and phosphates. They not only have no nutritional value, but even become wastes that the body needs to deal with, and the phosphate in them will also interfere with the absorption of calcium.
Iced carbonated drinks are welcomed by people, because it contains a lot of carbon dioxide gas, which takes away the heat from the stomach through burping after entering the human body, making people feel fresh and cool. But the harm of carbon dioxide itself to human body is the same, which may increase the content of carbon dioxide in blood and adversely affect the transportation of nutrients. At the same time, in terms of heatstroke prevention and water supply efficiency, carbonated drinks are far less than tea, sour plum soup, lemonade, mung bean soup and light soybean milk.
References:
"Health Common Sense" column