Water in all its glory

Water is definitely the best beverage you can drink, because of its many physical benefits. In comparison, PowerAde and Coke are no match for this essential beverage. Some of the ways water benefits the body are that it helps bodily functions, rids toxins, and aids specific aches and sicknesses. 
   Water will help you achieve a healthier look. Drinking some water has proven to improve mood and alertness. It is important with weight loss because drinking water fills up your stomach. In addition to eating smaller portions, drinking water entergizes your body and does not fill you up with empty calories like sodas do.  Water will allow you to exercise more efficiently. More strength is provided to your body's muscles, allowing you to work out more intensely. Skin can react to specific toxins and create pimples and zits, but water will flush these toxins while moisturizing your skin.
   Water may sometimes be the unlikely solution to some of your health problems. If you consume an appropriate amount of water, you can get rid of headaches, aching joints, and back pain. Also, it is widely known that consuming fluids like water will help your immune system fights colds and the flu. Digestion problems may be helped or stopped by consuming water. Preventing dehydration is crucial to maintain health since over two thousand have died from malnutrition in the past ten years. 
                            
Drinking water is vital because the human body is made up mostly of water. 70% of the brain is water. 12 gallons of water are used daily to support the human body. Speaking of the human body, water makes up 66% of it, and it is the most common substance on earth.

The Debate

Often people drink soda to quench the thirst. However, this is probably the worst time to drink soda, because when you are very thirsty or dehydrated you have low levels of saliva. Saliva helps to neutralize acids, and soda is the most acidic beverage you can buy. Also, soda does not help blance your body's fluids.


  Gatorade, PowerAde, and other sports drink can be very essential in a work out, but you have to make sure your body actually needs it so that you're not just filling up on sodium-packed beverages. Sports drinks have lots of sodium, which is helpful when you are vigorously working out. But, if you're just eating with friends or playing some fun soccer, you should rather drink water. While these sports drinks provides electrolytes to give your body more energy, you will probably not be moving that extremely and exercising  that long that you lose electrolytes in the first place. 



 While drinking coffee and soft drinks causes dehydration, water keeps your body refreshed and hydrated. 
Also, the sugary drinks cause a lot of unwanted dollars and calories, where as water is free. 
The main argument is that soft drinks provide no mental or physical benefits, where water helps the body remain healthy and the mind remain focused. So, toss the soda can and drink up your water, and your body will thank you later.

All About Sports Drinks

Gatorade was started in 1965, being the result of a collaboration four doctors and the Florida Gators assistant coach. Since the start of this sports beverage and others,  Gatorade can be very beneficial in helping hydrate the body, but it depends on the situation when deciding if you should drink it. Some of the benefits of drinking Gatorade or other sports drinks are the attraction of the taste and replacement of electrolytes. 
   Some of the more obvious reasons people choose sports drinks are the appealing tastes, bright colors, and thirst-quenching flavors of the drink. Compared to water with little to no taste, drinks have  delicious flavors which appeal to the drinker. The taste is actually proven to be more effective in keeping an athlete properly hydrated than water because of its appeal.
   Celebrity endorsement is a way that drink companies convince kids to drink their drinks. Kids will definitely want to drink that brightly-colored sports drink when they see their favorite basketball player chug one during an intense game. Also, the millions of dollars spent towards advertising these drinks do not go to waste.
   A main reason children choose Gatorade is that the sugars in the drink help energize someone after a hot baseball game or soccer tournament. However, the amount of exercise it takes to get rid of the big amounts of sugar found in sports drinks does not cancel out. 

Sports drinks are not all bad for you. They can help energize and hydrate active exercisers during a workout. The electrolytes and carbohydrates found in these drinks claim to boost the athlete's energy. It is also found that drinking sports drinks balance the body's fluids. Your body will thank you if you drink some after a long game of soccer in the burning hot sun. On the other hand, if you are not being active for about an hour, you are doing more bad than good. When you drink these drinks, you are just providing your body sugar that will not be canceled by activity. This is important to know because studies have proven most consumers are more likely to be playing a video game inside than playing and running around outside. It is also believed that these sports drinks are a key factor of child obesity today. Results of sports drink consumption for inactive people is weight gain and high blood pressure.

Sticky Facts Of Soda

Some of the reasons people drink so much soda is the addicting taste, easy access, and constant advertisement. Coke and other sodas are very convenient and can be found at a local vending machine or restaurant: Its easy access makes it difficult to avoid not indulging in drinking it, whether or not people are trying to cut back on sodas. Roughly $565 million dollars in America alone were spent on advertisement of sodas, where $3.3 billion dollars were spent in 2013 for global advertisement. No wonder kids want to drink a Coke when they are seeing an advertisement for one at every block and being endorsed by their favorite movie and TV stars.

The average person enjoys the sugary, bubbly taste of beverages. Coke contains 10 teaspoons of sugar, which is the total amount needed on a daily basis. So, any of your meals or snacks couldn't contain sugar in them if you wanted to drink a soda and maintain your balance of nutrients. People who drink soft drinks daily do not realize how big the risk is they are taking. If you make it a habit to drink a Coke every day, the chances that you will get diabetes increases by a whopping 80%. Also, your risk of having a heart attack increases by 20%. So, how good does that drink sound to you now?
Risk of heart attack and diabetes are sadly the least of your problems when you drink soda. There are numerous major health issues that connect to soda consumption. Weight gain (an increase in body weight), osteoporosis (condition in which the bones become brittle and fragile), and weakened muscles are very likely to occur. Also, you might have a pricey dentist bill after drinking your favorite beverage. Cavities, tooth decay (decay of the outer surface of a tooth), and the breakdown of your enamel are more likely to happen. Other health problems that result form sodas are seizures, high blood sugar, and brain tumors (growth of abnormal cells in the brain).

Drinking a soda occasionally will not kill you. However, limit yourself and drink water because common sodas, such as Coca-Cola are the second most consumed beverage in the United States. Also, addiction to sugar is more intense than drugs, so take your problem seriously. The average American drinks about 57 gallons of soda per year.

Overall, sodas are consumed too frequently and cause too many health issues and lifetime problems. Soft drinks need to be taken seriously and considered as the cause of obesity and malnutrion in America. An easy alternative to these sugary drinks is water, because water strengthens your body and provides nutriients for it.

Like to read more? 

Here are some articles you should enjoy:

• Girls Health
http://girlshealth.gov/index.html

• Greatist
http://greatist.com/health/reasons-to-drink-water

• 100 Facts about Water
http://www.seametrics.com/blog/water-facts/

• Dehydration Article
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/dec/02/dehydration-malnutrition-care-homes-hospitals

• Pros/Cons of Drinking Sports Drinks
http://www.healthline.com/health/food-nutrition/is-gatorade-bad-for-you#3

• Sugar Stacks
http://www.sugarstacks.com/beverages.htm