Who doesn't love soda? But according to a study, it may be putting your life in danger in the long term because of a possible carcinogenic.
Carcinogenics such as those found in cigarettes, are substances that are linked to cancer formation, and based on a new research conducted by a team from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, your very own soda may have a possible carcinogenic.
It is called 4-MEI (4-methylimidazole), which is the component that gives drinks and even some types of food their caramel color. Although the level of the chemical may differ among various brands of soft drinks, it doesn't change the fact that consuming it already raises your cancer risk.
In an announcement on Thursday, February 19, Keeve Nachman, the senior author, shared how those who drink soft drinks are exposed to a cancer risk that is supposed to be controllable, avoidable, and unnecessary, especially since the chemical does nothing to the drink but to simply make it look good.
A person's exposure to 4-MEI is related to the amount of soft drinks he consumes. For the study, they studied more than 10 brands of soft drinks and discovered that cancer risk increases as the person drinks more of them. In the United States, more than 40% of men and women beyond the age of six drink at least one soda on a daily basis.
So far, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has yet to regulate the amount of 4-MEI that can be used by soda manufacturers.
Sodas have long been tied to a series of health problems especially type 2 diabetes because of the high amount of sugar they contain. Many studies have also cited them as one of the leading causes of obesity epidemic around the world, particularly among children. Manufacturers have recently pledged to reduce sugar content as part of the Clinton Initiative.
You can read more of the study in PLOS ONE journal.
