I read the other day that it takes thirty two 8-oz. cups of good, purified water to cancel the acidic effects of one 8 oz. soft drink in the body!

An overly acidic body predisposes one to develop any of many auto-immune diseases (diabetes, cancer, lupus, arthritis, irritable bowel syndrome, etc.).

Food for thought!

Katherine

Thank you so much for posting that! I'm normally a total soft drink addict. But as it's Lent i havent had one in about a week and a half. it was really hard the firt couple of days but i don't miss them at all now! I would really like to encourage you all to try and give them up as well. Get some fruit drinks in the fridge!

Kate

Don't you ever NEED a Pepsi???

Susanna

Susanna, uhhhhhh-no! Actually, I drank Pepsi's (Pepsi rules, if you're going to have your habit, by the way) like they were going out of style when I was a teenager--had a 32 oz. Big Gulp almost every day of the week for a while (cringe!!), but somewhere along the way--way b4 finding out all about it--I decided I was sick of all the chemicals in my body. (Now mind you, I DO need that Bostom Kreme donut every once in a while!! ) I refuse to drink soft drinks now. (Soft drinks, my foot. They're corrosion drinks!) Smart choice, Kate! Easy on the fruit drinks, though (lots of sugar). "Ice cube fruit drink popsicles" might be a better idea.

I found a site once by the Christian comedian Mark Lowry and he posted a lot of things that Coke is used for. It said if you drop a nail in a glass of coke, it will dissolve within four days! (The nail, not the Coke!) When I found out that some highway crews use Coca Cola to clean up the streets from blood after an accident, I decided right then and there. Gulp. Don't think I need Coke anymore!

You can find the info here--it's unbelievable! http://www.marklowry.com/funnies/coca_cola.htm (Don't forget to go to the bottom of the page when you're done and click "Funnies." It will carry you to more great stuff like this that will have you laughing for hours!

Take care all and thanks for replying!

Katherine

I know that it's not good for me, and I haven't been drinking nearly as much, but I STILL like it.
Actually, I have read that it takes the magnesium out of your body, besides all the things you've mentioned. Yes, there are many better things to drink, the main one being water.
That's what I drink most.

Susanna

Good for you! Nice chatting, Susanna.

Katherine

Studies have also shown that the carbonation cause you to be hungery as well. Where as not carbonatied drinks not only quinch your thirst but also curb your appitite. )

Hi folks!

Gee, it's been so long since I visited this site that I had to register all over again. Shame on me.

Just wanted to comment on the soft drink issue.

Now, I don't know about the first comment in here, about how much water it takes to flush out a soft drink. I haven't heard that one before.

But I do know about the other comment -- the one about putting a nail in Coke and it will dissolve.

That's one of those urban legends that circulates around the internet.

Here is a link to check it out:

http://snopes.com/cokelore/acid.asp

That's also a good place to check out other urban legends. You know the ones -- stuff like kids being stabbed by drug needles in the ball pits at fast food restaurants, missing child reports, and big companies promising to send you free stuff or money if you forward the email to everyone in your address book (as if they can even tell who you forwarded the message to). Lately I keep getting one about deleting a computer virus and in fact it isn't a virus at all. But people believe it and go in and delete stuff from their system because they believe whatever they read.

http://www.snopes2.com

Next time you get an email that asks you to forward it to everyone you know, or get a story that seems a little far-fetched, go to this site and look for it before you forward it to everyone.

As for the acidic diet / alkaline diet info, I have been going through Tony Robbins' Get The Edge program and he talks about this. He doesn't get into a lot of detail, though. He really doesn't provide enough info to try the very diet he recommends. But I looked up the Ph.D. that he recommends and looked over his site.

What worries me is this Dr. Robert Young has the Coke urban legend there on his site, as if it were scientific fact!

- Jill in MO -

That's a great site, Jill....I use it all the time. I think some of my friends look at me as a "spoil-sport" because I'm always discovering the e-mails they are forwarding to me are not true! I just hate to pass on false material. I have a couple of other urban legend sites, but snopes is my favorite.

Thanks for sharing it with everyone!

Kelly

Hey, Jill, I've referred to Snopes frequently too, but it never occurred to me to check out something on Coke and nails. I'm not one to believe just anything I read, so I'm puttin' on my lab coat. You know, the Dr. Jaclyn/Ms. Hyde thing. I am going to buy a coke and drop a nail in it and see what happens!

I do find their comments on how Coke is not harmful to you disturbing and ignorant. It's not just the acid in Coke that wreaks such chaos on the body's pH level. The sugar alone will! Sugar becomes very acidic in the body, probably attributing to the pH balance of 2.8 in Coke (let alone the pre-consumed acid content). A healthy person should have a pH of 7.5. Six is tending toward acidity and creating an atmosphere for/of degenerative disease in the body. And with a pH of 4 or less, you could have several auto-immune diseases or cancer itself. Hence Coke's propensity to disturb the pH balance in the body and gear it for disease. (I certainly wouldn't expect the Coca-Cola company would endorse this information.) The same could be said for consuming too much fruit juice, eating too many carbs from simple, processed foods, etc.

For a disturbing review of the dangers of refined, white table sugar, see http://www.mercola.com/article/sugar/dangers_of_sugar.htm Or better yet, just go to http://www.mercola.com/index.htm and type sugar in the search box at the top right. Yiiiiikes!!

Katherine

Yup, I realize Coke isn't great for the bod. I'm addicted. It's just hilarious that these sillyl hoaxes and urban legends keep getting circulated.

I'm probably a spoil sport too. When I get them, I usually hit "reply all" (so it goes to the whole list of people it was sent to, not just to the person who sent it to me) and send the link to Snopes. There are a couple of people who only email me with these silly messages. Never a "Hi, how are you?" type message. Just hoaxes.

Now, back to the ph levels and acid.

Katherine, do you know of a web site or book that explains this theory and makes it easy to understand? The Tony Robbins set didn't get into much detail. For example, I don't understand if I should be looking for foods with a high number or low number. He talked about the ph levels and then he talked about mega hertz (?). I'm confused.

And, like I said, when I went to the web site of the guru phD who supposedly "knows all," there was that urban legend about Coke. That gave me a warning sign.

I posted my questions to a Tony Robbins message board and a few people were civil, but then a few sarcastic folks attacked me, as if I had committed blasphemy.

I've tried SO MANY diets and fallen for so many far-fetched ideas. I'm thinking the best thing to do is eat smaller portions of reasonable foods, without the extremes that cut entire food groups out.

But I'm high risk for type II diabetes, which is scary.

- Jill in MO -

Robert Young has a book called pH Miracle which explains this stuff in great detail. It's a really good book.

There are charts on the web about ash levels of foods.

http://thephmiracle.us/

FWIW, there is a forum on the TR site which talks about this type of diet (Inner Balance forum).

Tracey

Jill, Sure, glad to help. BTW, if you're borderline Type II Diabetic, I double, TRIPLE, QUADRUPLE-urge you to give up those beloved Cokes!!! I warned my husband for years, and, sure enough, he's diabetic--type II. You are likely very depleted of chromium piccolinate--as most people that crave sweets and carbs are--and diabetics by nature are. I try to take 400 mcg per day (1000 has been recommended for diabetics) and we use the Solaray brand. I notice if I stay consistent on it, and NEVER MISS A MEAL (every 2 1/2 to 3 hours of the day, 6 times), my blood sugar levels out and I don't find myself craving sweets. Strange.

Anyway, here's a good site to explain acidity vs. alkalinity. (Don't buy their Coral Calcium though--it's too expensive. I have bought mine from http://www.coralcalcium-supply.com/?source=google_robert_barefoot and think I'll buy my next supply from http://www.okinawan-coral-calcium.com/index.htmlas it appears just as suitable and costs less.) This last site is excellent, by the way, for info regarding the acidity. You want foods that have a higher alkaline level, or in other words, where the number value is higher. Some foods, though, although they're acidic by nature (like lemons) attribute to alkalinity in our body. (The juice of a lemon in a cup of water is excellent for the liver, BTW.) Robert Barefoot--big on Barefoot Coral Calcium--has a good book also called The Calcium Factor. My pH seems to have gone up about .5 points since I started taking Coral Calcium. (Eating lots of fresh vegetables, lots of green vegetables, and vegetable juicing is a way to boost up your alkaline level. Sugar, however, will undo everything on the left that you're trying to do on the right.)

SUGAR IS HIGHLY ACIDIC! I can't stress that enough. Just yesterday, I stopped on my way home from work and had my daughter buy us a Boston Kreme donut (my occasional weakness!) then could have cried last night when reading some of the horrifying things about sugar and aspartame. Do a search on www.mercola.com on each! It might just change your mind.

Also, what I do for my husband every now and then is buy LaCroix flavored carbonated water. Throw a little pinch of Stevia in there for sweetness--maybe a tad of no-sugar-added grape juice for flavor, and Voila! You've got--no, not Coke--but a far healthier alternative that may help you to wean. I used to drink Cokes when I was younger, and then I always had one at least once a week when going out to eat for dinner. But lately, all the info about sugar has eaten a hole through my brain and now, I'm happy to say, I've laid them down for the last time! It's not even a battle anymore. (Okay, okay, for those extremely Blue Moons that I'll even let my daughter have her coke in restaurants, I'll sneak a sip or two! )

A few more sites for you:
http://www.coralcalmag.com/hlacid.htm
http://www.coral-calcium-benefits.com/acid-alkaline.html
Here's a great site. Dr. Lark has really got it together! http://www.drlark.com/nc/alkaline_bal_pdiet_badfood.asp

Here's wishing you the best in your efforts! I know first hand how addictive sugar is--I do battle with it continuously. Maybe one of these days I'll win. (And I'm still going to drop a nail in a Coke! )Take Care,

Katherine

Thanks for all the links! I'm going to visit those sites to learn more.

How's that nail experiment coming along?

- Jill in MO -