A new study has found that even drinking just two soft drinks a week can increase your risk of pancreatic cancer. As a former soft drink addict, I know that two soft drinks is usually a daily thing for most people. At the height of my soft drink fanaticism, I easily drank an entire 2 liter of Dr. Pepper over the course of a day. Easily. Then, when I switched to Diet Dr. Pepper, I served it with the same dedication and devotion. Who am I kidding, I still have a soft spot for my beloved DDP. Fortunately, I love tea, iced coffee, and green tea even more, so I’m slowly but surely pulling away from the habit.
The new study that’s generating all the buzz has greatly affected what drinks I bring into my house. Researchers say that drinking as little as two soft drinks a week appears to nearly double the risk of getting pancreatic cancer. Scary stuff.
”People who drank two or more soft drinks a week had an 87% increased risk — or nearly twice the risk — of pancreatic cancer compared to individuals consuming no soft drinks,” says study lead author Noel T. Mueller, MPH, a research associate at the Cancer Control Program at Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, D.C. The study is published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
If your kids (or your spouse!) seem to think that the only thing they can drink are soft drinks, introduce them to different fruit juices, teas, and flavored water. As a green mom, I really don’t want to recommend bottled flavored water. Instead, buy a water filter – turning your own water into bottled water. Then, flavor it – if need be – with lemons, limes, strawberries, blueberries, Stevia or Truvia, peaches, etc. I confess, I drink what my daughters call “hummingbird water” – I sweeten it with Truvia or Stevia. I guess it’s all those years of drinking soft drinks and sweet tea (very, very sweet tea – I take my southern heritage seriously).
If you, or anyone in your family, misses the “fizz” in soft drinks – try adding a little club soda to juice. It’ll give you the fizz without the fright.
Personally, I’ve found that flavored tea bags have enough personality and taste to make you all but forget about soft drinks. The Peach Celestial Seasonings tea bags (pictured above) make outstanding cups of hot tea and equally outstanding glasses of iced tea. Remember, tea not only tastes wonderful, it has antioxidants to boot.
Everything good, nothing bad. Where can you beat it? If you’re going to put something into your body, don’t you want it to be a worthwhile guest and benefit you in some way? Make today the day you stop putting bad things in your body and start putting more good things in… and start with your drinks.
To read more about tea, hook up with the Crazy Tea Chick.
