Too many fizzy drinks found to be bad for the penis

Fizzy drinks have perhaps rightfully received plenty of bad press in recent years on a regular basis. After all, the high sugary drinks have been closely linked to tooth decay, weight gain, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and can even quicken up the aging process.

Now there could be another reason to leave the fizzy drinks well alone, with scientists reporting there is a link between soda consumption and problems ‘down there’ for men – more specifically fertility and erectile dysfunction.

Scientists based at Copenhagen University Hospital made the findings after looking at consumption of Coca-Cola. For the study they looked at 2,554 men who drank large amounts of coke and found that drinking 1 litre of the fizzy drink on a daily basis could cut a man’s sperm count by a staggering 30% and also cause impotence problems.

Those addicted to fizzy drinks were found to have an average sperm count of 35 million per millilitre, compared to 56 million per millilitre in those who consumed less coke. Despite 35million per millilitre falling within the normal range, it will place men more at risk of eventually becoming infertile.

Even though many would probably assume caffeine to be the culprit for the men’s health risks, researchers in the study discovered there does not seem to be any direct correlation between the caffeine consumed in other drinks such as coffee and tea, meaning there is something else within fizzy drinks that is the root of the problems.

The scientists did note that while getting an erection also depended on both physical and psychological factors, they believe that there is a sweetener used in the drink which could cause damage to arteries in the penis, hindering the blood flow through it.

The failure of being able to achieve and sustain an erection may in fact be a result of large amounts of fructose corn syrup, a sweetener added to many fizzy drinks. In addition, visceral fat deposition, caused by unhealthy diet habits such as drinking fizzy drinks, is also a factor in erectile dysfunction.
In conclusion, the scientists report that drinking the odd can of coke or other fizzy drink should be OK and not lead to any catastrophic side effects, but those guzzling more than a litre per day should try and cut down.

20% tax on sugary drinks could ease Britain’s obesity crisis

Researchers say that if a 20% tax was slapped onto all sugary drinks then this would help to bring down the total number of obese adults in the UK by an estimated 180,000.

Writing in the British Medical Journal, the researchers from Oxford and Reading argue that the 20% tax on Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Fanta and other sugar-sweetened drinks, would help to curb the worrying rise in sales of such drinks which they say is merely adding fuel to the fire of the nation’s obesity crisis.

The authors of the paper have spent time to calculate both the financial impact of introducing a 20% tax, and how much effect it could have in regards to trying to curtail the problem of obesity.

Dr Adam Briggs, lead study author from the Nuffield Department of Population Health at Oxford University, said their research has shown that taxing sugar-sweetened drinks “is a promising population measure”.

He commented: “Sugar-sweetened drinks are known to be bad for health and our research indicates that a 20% tax could result in a meaningful reduction in the number of obese adults in the UK. Such a tax is not going to solve obesity by itself, but we have shown it could be an effective public health measure and should be considered alongside other measures to tackle obesity in the UK.”

Dr Briggs and colleagues modelled the health effects of a 20% by using the information extracted from several separate surveys. These surveys had provided data on the trends of drink purchases, drinks consumption, and the prevalence of obesity throughout the UK.

They calculated that a 20% tax would equate to a 60p can of 330ml Coca-Cola now costing 72p, and help to cut the number of overweight adults in the UK by 0.9% (285,000 adults) and reduce the number of obese adults by 1.3% (180,000) adults. The tax would also result in roughly 40p being added to the cost of two-litre bottle.

The age group most effected would likely be those aged 16 to 29 the researchers say, as these typically consume a lot more sugary drinks in comparison to other age groups.

Because it is merely the over 30s who would be impacted by the introduction of the tax, this has led to some groups arguing that the tax would be misguided and simplistic, not having much of an impact on older people who could actually benefit most from losing weight.

Gavin Partington, director general of the British Soft Drinks Association, argued that soft drinks should not be blamed for Britain’s obesity problems.

He said: “There’s ample evidence to suggest that taxing soft drinks won’t curb obesity, not least because its causes are far more complex than this simplistic approach implies. Indeed, the latest official guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence points to the need to look at overall diet and lifestyle. Trying to blame one set of products is misguided, particularly when they comprise a mere 2% of calories in the average diet.”

In addition, Tom Sanders, professor of nutrition and dietetics at King’s College London, argued that the findings of the study were somewhat “naive”.

He said: “Most nutritionists agree it would be better to drink water than sugar-sweetened beverages. However, many consumers like sweet drinks and if they could not afford to buy sugary fizzy drinks they can always revert to drinking tea with added sugar as in the past. The cost of sugar-sweetened beverages is currently so low that any price increase would be so marginal that it would be unlikely to affect intake.”

However, the facts do not lie when it comes to fizzy drinks and the fact remains that a typical sugary drink still contains a shocking six to 15 teaspoons of sugary. Just one teaspoon of sugary works out at around 16 calories and 4g of sugar. On top of this, a regular consumption of the drinks has been linked to an increase in the risk of tooth decay and diabetes as well as obesity.

In fact, earlier this year doctors led calls for a tax on sugary drinks, in addition to other recommendations such as the number of fast food outlets close by to schools and colleges to be severely limited and a ban on junk food advertising before the watershed.

Sugary drinks linked to 200,000 deaths each year around the world

It has been claimed that the consumption of sugary soft drinks could be causing almost 200,000 deaths each year around the world.

The claims emanate from Harvard researchers who used data extracted from a huge investigation into causes of global disease – the 2010 Global Burden of Diseases study, and have now been able to link 180,000 deaths a year worldwide to high-sugar fizzy drinks.

Gitanjali Singh, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston and lead author of the study presented the findings this week at the American Heart Association’s annual meeting in New Orleans.

After a painstaking five years spent putting the pieces together of a complex analysis into global fatalities, Singh and his colleagues were able to attribute sugary drinks to approximately 133,000 deaths from diabetes, 44,000 deaths from cardiovascular disease and 6,000 deaths from cancer during 2010.

There appeared to be a demographic division in the findings with a high proportion (78%) of the deaths occurring in the lower-to-middle income countries in comparison to wealthier nations. Being able to afford private healthcare could be a factor that contributed to this statistic.

The analysis found that Latin American and Caribbean countries had seen the most diabetes-related deaths linked to sugary drinks (38,000). In addition, East and Central Europe had the most heart-related deaths associated to sugary drinks (11,000).

From the 15 highest populated countries within the analysis, it was determined that Mexico had the highest sugary drink-associated death rate – 318 deaths per million adults. Japan was the country with the lowest sugary drink-associated death rate, at just 10 deaths for every million adults.

Sugar-sweetened drinks have been widely known to contribute weight gain and obesity. This then raises the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, heart disease and some types of cancer.

The U.S. study is more evidence that high-sugar, high-calorie fizzy drinks that offer no nutritional value are a danger to public health and playing a major part in the UK’s growing number of diabetes cases – described as a ‘public health emergency’ only a fortnight ago.

Gitanjali Singh released a statement about the findings of the study, commenting: “We know that sugar-sweetened beverages are linked to obesity, and that a large number of deaths are caused by obesity-related diseases. But until now, nobody had really put these pieces together. I think our findings should really impel policymakers to make effective policies to reduce sugary beverage consumption since it causes a significant number of deaths.”

However, the American Beverage Association has disputed the study, describing it as ‘more about sensationalism than science’. Releasing a statement, the group said: “It does not show that consuming sugar-sweetened beverages causes chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease or cancer – the real causes of death among the studied subjects. The researchers make a huge leap when they take beverage intake calculations from around the globe and allege that those beverages are the cause of deaths which the authors themselves acknowledge are due to chronic disease.”

Coca-Cola tries to dispel obesity concerns with TV ads

Global Soft drinks giant Coca-Cola have gone to drastic measures to defend themselves against increasing concerns regarding the negative impact that fizzy drinks are having to our health. There is a staggeringly high sugar content in many drinks such as regular Coke, Pepsi, etc., and this is contributing towards tooth decay and the spiralling obesity epidemic occurring both in Britain and also in the U.S.

Interestingly, sales growth within North America over the last 15 years for Coca-Cola has directly emanated from millions of people deciding to go with the no-sugar and no-calorie options such as Coke Zero, clearly showing a huge public worry about the fuller-sugared versions. These diet versions of their soda drinks now comprise of roughly a third of its sales in the U.S. and Canada.

Therefore, to perhaps address the issue of obesity and attempt to alleviate the mounting pressure on the soft drinks industry, Coca-Cola have launched a new advertising campaign on cable television in the U.S. The two minute-long commercials were given their first airing during last night’s ‘The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer’ on CNN, FOX News’ ‘The O’Reilly Factor’, and MSNBC’s ‘The Rachel Maddow Show’.

A spokeswoman for Coca-Cola, Diana Garza, said: “The audience for this new ad is knowledgeable about the problem but doesn’t necessarily know about what the Coca-Cola Co is doing to address it. We are telling them our story.” She also acknowledged that the company had to try and remain consistent with its brand voice and avoid sounding ‘preachy’.

In the advert shown on Monday night, a female voice was heard stating that Coca-Cola drinks actually have reduced portion sizes in the form of smaller cans, the company are putting their efforts into creating better-tasting, low-calorie sweeteners and has voluntarily made lower-calorie drinks available at schools. Viewers are also provided with a reminder that ‘all calories count no matter where they come from’ and ‘if you eat and drink more calories than you burn off, you’ll gain weight’.

The advertisements are also expected during many other shows tonight too and a separate commercial, explaining about Coke’s front-of-package calorie labels, will be screened for the first time Wednesday during ‘American Idol’ on Fox – who have partnered with Coke for several years.

The second ad is a stark contrast to the first, and could be seen as more traditionally ‘upbeat’ as people would expect from company known for their series of happy Christmas television adverts. It will feature a montage of fun activities that will equate to burning off the ‘140 happy calories’ contained in a can of Coke: dancing, laughing with friends, walking a dog and doing a victory dance after getting a strike during a game of bowling.

However, Coca-Cola claims that their new series of videos have not been created due to mainstream bashing of the soft drink industry, but as a way to ‘raise awareness’.

The campaign follows tough action by news that US government officials are specifically concentrating on high-calorie soft drinks for stricter regulations. In New York, a city where shockingly 58% of people are classed as either overweight or obese, a new law will come into effect from March barring the sale of soft drinks larger than a pint in any cinema, restaurant and stadia.

Unfortunately it seems that not everybody agrees with the real intentions of Coca-Cola’s television campaign. Michael Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, has long been critical of the soft drinks industry, and he said that the move “looks like a page out of Damage Control 101. They’re trying to disarm the public.” However, Mr Jacobson did not stop there in his scathing assessment and added: “They’re trying to pretend they’re part of the solution instead of part of the problem. If Coke was serious about wanting to be part of the solution, it could stop advertising full-calorie drinks altogether, set up a pricing scheme where full-calorie drinks were more expensive, or stop opposing proposed soda taxes.”