Harmful Effects of Soft Drinks (Soda)

[Feroza_Banu]

thank God i don't have to worry about this ... i prefer water over soda any day!... i am not a big fan of soda at all...

even if i fill my glass with it, i end up drinking 1/4 of it.

[*Mahzala*]

Look at the bright side, there is always room for improvement.

When was the last time you had a Pepsi with some tasty Mantu?

Like I said, with my nutritionist of a sister, I am bound to improve. I don't let the kidneys throb too much. Generally speaking, spicy foods with soft drinks kill my taste buds. But if I had a choice between Pepsi and water, I'd go for water. You should rather ask when was the last time I had Mantu, let alone with Pepsi.

[Catya Sher]

The problem with ALL those so-called "energy drinks" is that they DRAIN out energy!
I wouldn't touch them.
Stuff like Gatorade and all these Sports drinks are terrible because they hit a person with potassium, which is the absolute worst. Why's that? Because most of us who live in Western countries have already consumed too much caffeine. That drains the adrenal glands, which need the opposite: MAGNESIUM.
Look for both food and beverage with high MAGNESIUM content. Calcium too, but absolutely NOT Potassium.
See a brilliant ground breaking book by Dr Jim Wilson "Adrenal Fatigue: The 21st Century Syndrome" = it has a lot of keys about why people just get exhausted.
Too much caffeine in coffee and these "energy drinks" - I don't believe tea is a problem, I think it's healthy - and too much potassium with no magnesium and TRACE Minerals - really important to take, causes this rampant problem in our rush rush societies.

Re Son of the Mountains post: in Pakistan, someone has to start a new fashion - away from those bottled sodas and toward something elegant and healthy. It's only a recent custom anyway. Time for a complete overhaul in the beverages served to guests!

Eu. : Thanks for the tip about Shehzan, that was IT! I loved remembering that. Wonder if it's still there?

Thanks again to Admin Khan.
Oh another idea is to take Licorice Herb and boil it for tea. It's very sweet, delicious, can be served hot or cold. Preferably Organic Licorice Root - available in bulk at health food stores.
This also is one of the top herbs for healing the bad effects of over-caffeinization or other toxins like being around cigarette smoke, another stressor on the adrenal system.

[Feroza_Banu]

Feroza doctor shlombay says to mix water and soda if you really want to drink soda

good idea!

[Zarawar]

Alhamdulillah I don't even remember when was the last time I had a soda.

the same goes with TV!
NO SODA, NO TV!

I'd rather have a JAM full of Tarwey with some nana in it.

[Zarawar]

tarwey heshey dey? Shlombay?

Yes, Shlombey

[amna.]

Manana!

[Catya Sher]

Hi Jasmine!

No, I never once got sick, even traveling in the remote country areas in Afghanistan. I lived for long periods of time in Peshawar and traveled up the KKH many times to Hunza, etc. and nowhere did I have any slightest problem.

Ironically I was a little sick the first trip with the mujahideen, which I'm preparing to post within a day or two or three!
But THAT was because I had eaten some awful rice on a train to Luxor, Egypt and the bug was still with me when I went into Paktia.

Food never bothered me either in all those travels!
Something about the quality of the food in Pakistan-Afghanistan makes me feel so content and healthy, because I feel peacefully at home there, at least used to.

One small example is the Roma tomatoes one could eat with wonderful mountain salt from the Salt Range.

Whereas, the Roma tomatoes in the US are horrible: tasteless and worse, one can feel they are chock-full of chemicals, pesticides. The salt here is terrible too. I get mine imported from Pakistan!

Today maybe more pesticides are used in Pakistan, hope not, but times may have changed.

The raisins from Afghanistan were so great, too.
It IS funny that all the food felt wonderful whereas I am so picky about every last thing here in the U.S. as it has no spiritual quality in it of light.

Maybe this is the difference and why I fared so well over there with food. I also like spices, so the amount of cayenne I tend to use when traveling is a factor too in preventing any germs or illness.

Oh one more thing was the "nana" - I used to always ask for that tea, which is so good for the system. Everyone always had it right on hand and kindly brought me a cup. That was very likely key too to maintaining healthy immune system even when traveling with Afghan fighters against the Sovs.

[Catya Sher]

Well thanks, PashtunQueen!
This interest is an incentive to get back to work on it.

I actually have a whole bunch of them which I will post, but this first one or two are more difficult because the published version was aimed at Americans who knew nothing at all about that war in Afghanistan.

So I'm getting rid of superfluous explanations which no one here needs to wade through, and instead putting back in sentences from my original Draft. Those were more interesting, at least to me, but were trimmed down for publication by the editor.

[Side note of topical interest: that was Sandy Close of Pacific News Service, whose freelance writers are among those "hikers" now held in Iran.
I had never written a thing, but a Journalism professor had recommended them. They were enthusiastic about Afghanistan in general and intrigued that a very young woman just out of school had gone over and traveled with the mujahideen. So they were nice enough to publish my account.]

[Laila]

Catya Sher,

Do you get sick when you drink the local water in Afghanistan and Pakistan?

Yes, you do.



yuuuummmmm....hmmmm sooooodddddaaaa *Homer Simpson style*

[Laila]

laila why?

Its contaminated....its full of bacteria. It may look clean to people from Afghanistan or Pakistan but for someone who lives elsewhere will easily get sick.

[Saifullah]

yea my friends did a study of water in peshawar...most places had contamination by e.coli..hayatabad and a few other places were ok