"A Fizzing Nightmare"

It is science fair time! Jake decided he wanted to do his about soda. Let me tell you, I learned A LOT! It was life changing, in a way, to tell you the truth! We studied the ingredients most commonly found in soda and their side effects. It was ALARMING! It ended up not only making me not want to drink soda, but the preservatives....I think I will do a little studying on my own about them. I am definitely WAY more aware of the damaging effects they can have on our bodies! I am doing a serious overhaul on the things I am willing to purchase! No wonder aging can be so rough on us. Filling our bodies with this crud our whole lives will have consequences! 

Anyway, Jake did such a good job on his project that he was one of the few kids selected in his school to go on and compete in the district. Today is the big day! We will be at the high school from about 3:30 - 9:30 tonight setting up, then Jake will be presenting to judges, and presenting for walk throughs, then hoping to get to move on to regionals! After regionals comes state, then Washington DC. He hopes to go all the way, but he is thrilled that he has come this far! He worked way hard! Want to see the outcome? Here is his basic project that he named "A Fizzing Nightmare": 

QUESTION: 

"Is Soda a Good Choice For Your Body? 

Is One Kind Better Than Another?" 

Then he did a whole lot of research, where he found out that soda causes tissue to deteriorate. So, he came up with this....

HYPOTHESIS:

"If I place a piece of meat in several different types of soda, then it will show the harmful effects and deterioration that can happen inside of our bodies with each type."

The steak chunks sat in the soda, just like that, for 2 days. 

This is 10 tsp. of sugar. This is the amount of sugar you find in the average can of non-diet soda. Did you know that this amount of sweetness would immediately cause your body to vomit, when taken all at once? That is one of the reasons why so much acid is added to soda. It cuts the sweetness just enough to keep you from throwing up. Great, huh?

Oh, and if we think diet drinks save us from that, not so. Diet drinks have aspartame or artificial sweeteners. There are 92 major side effects, that are quite alarming, that come with use of these sweeteners. It causes your organs to swell and fat to accumulate around them, which is super dangerous, among many other things. You are WAY better off going with the non-diet stuff! FOR SURE! 

The meat after 2 days. Now, is that nasty or what?! The meat not only deteriorated, there was an enormous color change. The high fructose corn syrup, or any sugar we have, not only carries no nutritional value, it actually causes a negative nutritional value. When it enters your body, in order to digest, it has to rob your tissues of nutrition. Nutrients are carried through your body in the blood stream. It was interesting to see that very quickly the blood was sucked from the meat and it was left colorless. 

This is the stuff that was left behind. 

See the chunks of stuff in the jar. That is the sugar all leached onto the blood. Totally gross! 

EW!

Mountain Dew was by far the worst in both deterioration and color change. Plus, it, or any citrus type soda, include brominated vegetable oil, which is outlawed in over 100 other countries because of it's harmful effects. Bromine is added to vegetable oil and it supposed to keep the flavors together in the soda. Bromine is a toxic element and causes deterioration of tissues. SCARY! 

Here are just a few other side effects he found, in case you wanted to know:

Artificial & Natural Flavors: 

Negative Effects: Learning Disabilities, ADD &

            Behavioral disorders 

Positive Effects: Tastes Good. None others found.

Carbonated Water:

Negative Effects: Tooth Decay, Calcium loss

             Osteoporosis, etc. Can cause Esophageal Cancer.  

Positive Effects: Can ease constipation & indigestion.

              May be effective in lowering cholesterol. 

High Fructose Corn Syrup: 

Negative Effects: Weight gain, dental cavities, poor

              nutrition, increased risk of heart disease. 

Positive Effects: None found

Sodium Benzoate: 

Negative Effects: Has been found to cause changes in

             DNA. Can cause Parkinson’s Disease and even

             accelerate aging. In children it can cause

             hyperactivity. It can also cause anemia,

             allergies, liver and kidney disease and even 

             heart and brain failures have been reported.

             Promotes cancer and kills healthy cells.

Positive Effects: None found. 

Brominated Vegetable Oil: 

Negative Effects: Bromine is a halogen and displaces

                iodine, which can depress thyroid function,

depression, memory loss, hallucinations, violent 

                tendencies, psychosis, seizures, cerebral

atrophy, acute irritability, tremors, ataxia,

                confusion, loss of peripheral vision, slurred

speech, stupor, tendon reflex changes,

                photophobia due to enlarged pupils, extensor

         plantar responses, fatigue, lethargy, loss of

                muscle coordination, and headache. In animal

Testing it has also shown damage to heart and

                kidneys, as well As fat deposits around organs.

Positive Effects: None Found.

Aspertame: 

Negative Effects: There are over 92 reported side

                effects. From seizures, to heart palpations,

                depression and more. 

Positive Effects: Low calorie sweetener.

Caffeine: 

Negative Effects: Psychosis, tremors, anxiety, insomnia

Positive Effects:  Mental alertness, pain killers. Can

                be used for gallbladder disease, ADHD, 

Motivate breathing in premature infants, and

                many more. 

So what do I do with this? Well, to me knowledge is power. You can tell me that it isn't good for me, and I hear ya, but I have to do the research and learn exactly why sometimes. Does this mean that I will never drink soda again? Maybe not. I may have a sip from time to time, but honestly it has totally lost its appeal to me. I certainly won't ever drink it frequently. I think I would like to keep my guts in tact! :) 

Now, we are off to the Science Fair! Crossing fingers that Jake makes it a bit further in this fun little contest! :)