Rotting teeth is just a foreshadow to what soda can really do to you and your health.

This video was originally published on NutritionFacts.org and republished with permission. NutritionFacts.org 

It is hardly a secret that soda is bad for you. We know that they’re loaded with sugar or artificial sweeteners for the diet varieties, but did you know one of the biggest health concerns regarding soda is in the coloring? What you learn here will hopefully get you to give up soda forever.

One of the strongest selling flavors of soda is cola, and it’s rare to meet someone who hasn’t heard of Coke of Pepsi no matter where you are on the planet. The caramel brown food coloring of cola is one of the trademark characteristics and sadly, one of the byproducts of making the coloring is methylimidazole, which is a known carcinogen. A John Hopkins research team following cancer rates and soda consumption concluded that Pepsi alone may be causing thousands of cases of cancer every year. While this is disconcerting on its own, Goya brand cola has even more of the food coloring than Pepsi, and while Coke has less, it is by far the more widely consumed brand and there is no safe level to drink.

Fortunately, despite how ubiquitous these supposedly ‘safe’ drinks are, it’s easy to avoid their detrimental effects; simply choose to not drink them. When you look at the number of instances of obesity, fatty liver disease, kidney disease among others being linked to soda consumption, knowing that each sip may also get you closer to developing cancer should be enough to convince anyone to give up soda. The weather is only getting warmer these days, so be sure to make a conscious, healthy choice when you go to quench your thirst.