5. Soda
There’s nothing as refreshing as a cold soda on a hot day. Unfortunately, it’s terrible for your health. There are around seven teaspoons of sugar in every can of Coca-Cola. Sugar increases your blood glucose levels and leads to the onset of diabetes. Consuming too much sugar in your diet also leads to an accumulation of inflammation in the intestinal walls of the digestive tract.
This toxic inflammation spreads to every other system in the body, exacerbating symptoms of inflammatory diseases, such as arthritis. Soda also contains high amounts of uric acid and oxalates, which lead to the formation of kidney stones.
To make matters worse, sugar-free sodas with artificial sweeteners aren’t much better for your kidney health. Artificial sweeteners reduce kidney function, making it harder for the organ to clear oxalates from surrounding tissues. The kidneys struggle to process these synthetic chemicals found in diet soda, so it’s best to leave them alone and increase your water intake instead.