DANGERS OF SUGAR

By now, most people know about the dangers of excessive sugar consumption. Sugar has been linked to many health problems, ranging from extremely serious (diabetes, heart disease, cancer, etc.), to mild (insomnia, tooth decay, indigestion, etc.), and much in between (depression, arthritis, fatigue, headaches, etc.) Avoiding excess sugar in the beverages you drink is important to your good health.

Click here for much more info on the potential dangers of excess sugar.

"SUGAR-FREE" BEVERAGES: BEWARE!

Once you are aware of the problems of excessive sugar consumption, you will be looking for alternatives, especially in beverages. Luckily now there's Sparka, the dietary supplement drink which also happens to be the most delicious, nutritious thirst quencher in the world!

But what's available besides Sparka? If you want to find a drink that does not fill you with processed sugar and calories, your choices are few: "diet" drinks/sodas, juices and juice-based drinks, and unsweetened teas or water.

Let's examine these options:

Diet drinks and sodas are typically made with artificial sweeteners, almost always either aspartame (brand names NutraSweet®**, Equal®**), or sucralose (brand name Splenda®**), or sugar alcohols. We've all seen these products; they are ubiquitous today, and the companies that make them are reaping huge profits. But the sad truth is that we would be much better off as a society if we had never been introduced to these innocent-sounding but potentially harmful food additives. Note that the many health problems linked to these additives have also contributed to consumer resistance to diet drinks, which exists anyway because diet drinks usually taste bad (until now).

• Aspartame has been linked to a variety of health ills, including neurological disorders ranging from headaches, mood disorders, and memory loss all the way to severe depression and full-blown seizures, plus digestive problems including abdominal pain and diarrhea, fatigue, rashes, dizziness, menstrual difficulties, even brain tumors, blindness, and more.
  (Click here for more information on the potential dangers of aspartame.)
• Sucralose was invented by scientists searching for a new pesticide. Indeed, the sucralose molecule is much closer in structure to a pesticide than to sugar. The true chemical name of sucralose is "1,6-dichloro-1, 6-dideoxy-BETA-D-fructofuranosyl-4-chloro-4-deoxy-alpha-D-galactopyranoside". This is NOT sugar, or anything like it, functionally. In animals, sucralose has been linked to shrunken thymus glands (glands related to the immune system), enlarged liver and/or kidneys, decreased red blood cell count, aborted pregnancies, and decreased fetal body weight. In humans, sucralose has been linked to dizziness and numbness, muscle aches, headaches, diarrhea, abdominal cramping, skin rashes, flushing, panic-like agitation, and more. (Click here for more information on the potential dangers of sucralose.)
• Sugar alcohols are sugar molecules that have been chemically altered to have different properties. They are not as well-absorbed by the body, and therefore provide fewer (but not zero) calories. Side effects include diarrhea, bloating and other gastrointestinal disturbances. Some common sugar alcohols are: mannitol, sorbitol, erythritol, xylitol, lactitol, isomalt, maltitol and hydrogenated starch hydrolysates. (Of these, erythritol has the fewest side effects if large quantities are avoided. But since erythritol is only about 70% as sweet as sugar, it is perforce used in quite large quantities, which means those side effects will likely happen.)

Juices and juice-based drinks: These are not actually sugar free, but they are often labeled as such and so are included here.

Fruit juice generally contains as much sugar as any sugared drink. It's just a different kind of sugar (more fructose than sucrose), but really, it makes little difference to your body. Yes, fructose has a bit lower glycemic index than sucrose, but the bottom line does not change. The number of calories is virtually the same, and the negative effects on your body are similar.

Juice-based drinks are even worse. They typically contain a little juice (10% or so) and lots of added sugar. Or they use grape juice, which is very high in sugar, as a sweetener. You might as well be drinking sugar water.

Unsweetened teas or water: There's nothing seriously wrong with drinking unsweetened tea, 'if that's your cup of tea'. And water is the purest thirst quencher there is.

Of course, most people would be hard-pressed to characterize either unsweetened tea or water as great-tasting. If you are looking for an alternative to sugared soda, neither is likely to satisfy you.

Sparka will! And it's more healthful than either tea or plain water.

PHOSPHORIC ACID: OSTEOPOROSIS IN A SODA CAN

It has been recently reported that most carbonated cola drinks—diet and regular alike—may actually weaken children's bones. The cause of this phenomenon is considered to be phosphoric acid, which is believed to contribute to the leaching of calcium from bones, especially in youngsters. This is an extremely important finding, since almost ALL colas today are made with phosphoric acid. (Phosphoric acid is used to give the drink a certain "dryness". I.e., the soda you're drinking may have a chemical in it that's there to make you thirsty. Make sense? Well, yes... if you're the manufacturer.)

This problem does NOT apply to Sparka, at all. There is NO phosphoric acid used in any Sparka product. Rather than weaken bones, Sparka does the opposite—Sparka helps strengthen bones, due in part to the essential mineral calcium that is provided as a dietary supplement in every bottle of Sparka.

This is one more reason why Sparka is such a dramatic improvement over all other beverages: you can choose to allow calcium to be removed from your bones (and your kids' bones), or you can choose to strengthen your body and your bones by drinking the delicious, healthful beverage that is Sparka.

Carbonation and calcium:
You may have heard somewhere that carbonation might cause leaching of calcium from bones. This is entirely FALSE. Carbonation in drinks is entirely harmless, according to several published studies. If you drink a soda made with phosphoric acid, that may well cause bone loss, as noted above; but the carbonation in the drink has nothing to do with that effect. The fault lies with the phosphoric acid (and possibly a bit with caffeine, too).

"ENERGY" DRINKS ARE A TRAP

Beware of so-called "energy drinks". These consist of little more than stimulants (typically caffeine and/or stimulant herbs) thrown into some concoction that is often high in sugar. The "energy" comes from one or both of these two sources—sugar and caffeine—neither of which is good for you. Of course, be aware that both ingredients are often camouflaged: caffeine most often masquerades as "guarana" (an herb that is loaded with the stimulant), and sugar comes in many different forms, ranging from "sucrose", "dextrose", and "crystalline fructose" to "cane extract", "high fructose corn syrup", and other confusing names.

If stimulants are used, the "kick" you may feel will be short-lived, typically causing you to "crash" soon afterwards. The same is true for sugar, but when sugar is used all the negatives associated with sugar also apply. Caffeine also acts as a diuretic, so you end up drinking something that makes you lose body fluids—quite a paradox, and potentially dangerous (due to dehydration).

Energy drinks are a trap, because these products can become addictive, yet they will do your body no good and may well harm you.

WHAT MAKES SPARKA DIFFERENT

Sparka contains no sugar or sugar alcohols, and zero calories. No ingredient tricks. No juice-instead-of-sugar. Sparka is pure and natural—hydration as nature intended.

Sparka contains no artificial sweeteners—no aspartame, no sucralose, no artificial ingredients at all.

Sparka tastes great! Yes, it is possible for a drink to be calorie-free, highly nutritious, free of artificial sweeteners—and still be delicious. Sparka is a true natural breakthrough!

Sparka supplies essential nutrients. Each bottle of Sparka is a natural nutritional dietary supplement, supplying Vitamin C, Calcium, and the beneficial herb, Stevia. Sparka is so nutritious and healthful, we are required to identify it as a dietary supplement.
(To learn more about Sparka nutrition and its health benefits, click here.)

Sparka contains no caffeine, no harmful stimulants of any kind, & no artificial colors or flavors.

Weight control. If you drink three 20-ounce Sparka bottles per day instead of regular sugared drinks, you can save enough calories to lose, or avoid gaining, approximately 6 pounds of body fat, every month. (Note that Calcium, supplied in Sparka, has been shown to help in weight loss or weight maintenance, and Vitamin C plus Stevia have also been found to help.) If you do not need to lose weight, Sparka simply helps maintain your overall well-being and hydration.*

General health benefits. Drinking Sparka instead of sugary soft drinks can benefit your health enormously. It can help prevent the many ailments to which excess sugar consumption has been linked, it helps avoid any potential side-effects of artificial sweeteners, and Sparka provides Vitamin C, Calcium, and Stevia as nutritional supplements! What does all this mean? It means you can help reduce the risk of many serious diseases—including diabetes, obesity, osteoporosis, heart disease, even cancer—for you and your family, simply by drinking delicious, refreshing, healthful Sparka instead of regular sugary drinks.*
(To learn more about Sparka nutrition and its health benefits, click here.)

Sparka is unique. A true beverage revolution, here now!

____________________________________________________________
**See Conditions of Use & Legal Notices
*Statements here have not been evaluated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. No product mentioned herein is intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.