By Cosmas Omegoh
What a sweet feeling it gives when a child opens and gulps that bottle of chilled soft drink.
Some people while savouring the drink belch, releasing in the process a certain gas through their nostrils and the mouths. They are seized by a compelling, tingling sensation that leaves a sweet feeling which goes full circle in a breathtaking moment. Experts call that ‘peculiar satisfaction.’
Indeed, children and even adults love soft drinks. They are sweet, attractive and exciting. No party, no gathering anywhere with children in attendance is complete without lots of soft drinks to go round.
But beyond the excitement soft drinks offer, they also bring distress and sometimes death to those who over indulge in them.
Experts warn parents to steer away their children from sweet drinks, particularly those products exposed to high temperature.
What are carbonated, soft drinks?
Dr Chris Ewuru, a biomedical scientist at Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR), Lagos, described carbonated water as “a liquid substance containing dissolved carbon dioxide (Co2).”
According to him, Co2 found in drinks ordinarily called carbonated could occur naturally through chemical reactions or be artificially inserted using pressure.
He recalled that “carbonation produces effervescence (small bubbles) during a chemical reaction of Co2, to give bicarbonate and carbonic acid.”
The bye-product, he says, can be “soda water, spring water, or seltzer water which are substances referred to as carbonated water.”
He noted that carbonated water can also be referred to as “mineral water,” which is characteristically tasteless.
Ordinarily, he added, “carbonated water is food with minimal nutritional value.” Yet, people still love it because “it was known for the effervescence it generates and the soothing feeling it gives.”
Recalling how soft drinks came to dominate carbonated water, Dr Ewuru, went down memory lane, recalling that after a certain Joseph Priestly invented carbonated water sometime in 1767, it was later discovered that adding some other ingredients to his invention could give the consumer what was described as “peculiar satisfaction.”
Ewuru added that it was after manufacturers thought about improvements to their brands that “they began to add certain ingredients such as sugar, sweeteners, vitamins, flavour and colouring substances to improve the taste of their carbonated water. That was how the world arrived at what is now known as soft drinks.”
Over the years, it was learnt, various manufacturers have brought tremendous improvement to what the world now know as soft drink.
At the moment, the scope of that generic family has expanded in leaps and bounds to accommodate various beverages, among them energy drinks.
Each one of them now offers consumers the same “peculiar satisfaction” that evokes passion, and leaves them hooked.
As it stands, children and adults nowadays cannot do without their choice soft drinks. These they consume with relish, thus compelling various manufacturers to flood the markets with assorted drinks, improved with flavours, sweeteners and all sheds of colours found everywhere.
Health implications of soft drinks
According to Dr Ewuru, aside sugar, colouring substances and sweeteners, some other drinks in the market also contain caffeine.
He insisted that such “have detrimental effects to health.
“Some of those substances called energy drink essentially contain caffeine that shortens the process of naturally-produced caffeine in the body, thereby generating unwanted energy also in the same body.”
He stated that part of the ingredients in the soft drinks many now consume contain “sugar and citric gasses. They cause damage to the enamel of the teeth. Sugar is a natural food for micro-organisms that cause dental decay. Sugar, sweeteners and artificial flavouring – all contain high levels of fructose. Some of them can be challenging to human health.
“Some energy drinks on their part, cause alteration to the body chemistry. Excessive drinking of such substances, particularly the additives like the preservatives, sugar and sweeteners, has detrimental effects too.”
He insisted that when children are hooked to soft drinks, they risk being obsessed or suffer weight-related disease, warning that many children weaned on such drinks might have to deal with dental challenges in the future.
Over-indulgence in soft drinks bad
Dr Utibe Abasi Urua, a one-time head of Nutrition, and director, North-central and South-south zones of National Primary Health Development Agency (NPHDA) also frowned at the idea of weaning children on soft drinks.
“Naturally, children are supposed to eat quality food and then drink water.
“But for long, we had started bombarding them with drinks with high sugar content and colours.
“When we give children these unnatural substances, we subject their metabolism to more work.
“When we eat, all the ingredients of the food go through the liver and other systems.
“So, when we introduce children to carbonated drinks with high sugar content and coloured liquids, their bodies do extra work to break down the substances through metabolism.
“If those substances have high sugar content, they may not be too bad because children make use of sugar.
“But other substances in those drinks may not be removed easily. Take, for instance, even when the coloured substances may be processed by the liver, certain quantities will still remain in the blood stream,” he pointed out.
He also said that “the gas which is in the carbon is also dangerous if it is in large quality as the body fight hard to expel them.
“That is why when one takes those carbonated soft drinks, first they belch out the gas. Yet some which have been absorbed in the body will be broken down.
“If a child is healthy, most of those drinks may not be too dangerous to him/her.
“But in a situation where a child is not healthy – may be his/her kidney or liver is not performing optimally, there might be some remnants of those substances that that can prove dangerous if his/her organs are compromised.”
For Dr Ewuru, “given the fact that children are growing up, they need sugar.
“But the fear is that some of those substances in what they currently drink are not approved by the relevant authorities. So, nobody knows the veracity of the colouring matters that have been used: the sweeteners and sugar. Some might be dangerous and lethal to the consumers.
“It has been established that a bottle of a soft drink contains as many as eight cubes of sugar.
“If, therefore, one does not have enough regulatory insulin in their body, taking excess sugar will facilitate blindness and damage to the body chemistry. And that is why some people suffer from diabetes even as kids. And if they don’t know about it, early blindness will follow, coupled with system breakdown. The adults among them may collapse and die as a result of hypoglycemia.”
Drinks exposed to high temperature bad too
If over indulgence in soft drinks is bad, ignorantly consuming the ones exposed to high temperature, according to Dr Ewuru, is worse for kids.
“Some of those substances come in plastics. When plastics are exposed to the sun, certain chemical reactions take place. The contents change colours. That is a source of worry as far as health is concerned.”
He also told our correspondent that “plastic substances induce cancer in the body. So such substances exposed to the sun are dangerous to health and should be discouraged.”
For Dr Urua, “if drinks are exposed to the sun, one might not really know how hazardous they can be, but there are a lot of elements that might change.
“The sunlight can alter the content of drinks exposed to very high temperature. That can be disruptive. As much as possible, those things should be protected from direct sunlight.”
What parents need to know about their kids
To Dr Urua, parents need not worry about early signs of obesity in their kids because they are natural.
He said: “Obesity in children is not really a big problem because they are growing up. Often you see a child being robust, but his or her circumstances might change a little and then he/she loses that obesity.
“Children who are attending school from home and are well fed, tend to be obsessed. But by the first time they switch to the boarding school, their activities increase. So, they lose weight and gain height as they head into young adulthood.”
He, therefore, enjoined parents to discourage their children from taking junk foods and lots of drinks.
He said that at some point, it is a bit difficult to restrain kids from taking those stuffs, “but that must be done in moderation.”
According to him, “the normal classes of food parents need to be giving to their kids are vitamins, proteins, carbohydrate, minerals, and fat and oil; they are good for their growth.
“If you find out that your children are taking stuffs that are not healthy, restrict them from doing so.”