Drinking baking soda may help combat rheumatoid arthritis

Drinking baking soda daily may help reduce the destructive inflammation of autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, say scientists. While the immune system normally protects us from disease and infection, in someone who has an autoimmune disease the immune system attacks healthy cells in the body by mistake. Drinking baking soda, or sodium bicarbonate, tells the spleen — which is part of the immune system — to go easy on the immune response, the study said. “Certainly drinking bicarbonate affects the spleen and we think it’s through the mesothelial cells,” said…

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Switching to Diet Soda Probably Won’t Help You Cut Calories

Photo: Getty Images Ditching sugary drinks is a smart move for your health, not to mention your waistline—an average can of soda packs in about 150 calories and 39 grams of sugar (that’s over 9 teaspoons). Switching to diet may not help your calorie-cutting efforts much, though: A new study suggests that at the end of the day, you’ll probably still consume the same number of total calories overall. Scientists are still learning exactly how are bodies and brains react to calorie-free sweeteners. To test the effects of different different…

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Soda Taxes May Spread if Voters Check Ballots in California, Colorado

As Americans vote for a new president on Tuesday, hundreds of thousands of voters in California’s Bay Area and Boulder, Colorado, will also decide whether they want levies on sugary drinks, another step toward making soda taxes a norm. Three cities in California – San Francisco, Berkeley and Albany – and Boulder, Colorado, have become the latest battleground in a so-called “War on Sugar” that centers on sweetened drinks. Over 800,00 voters will decide on ballot measures to introduce taxes of 1 or 2 cents per ounce on soft drinks…

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Soda and other sweet drinks tied to risk for some rare cancers

People who drink lots of soda or other sugary beverages may have a higher risk of developing rare cancers in the gallbladder and bile ducts around the liver, a Swedish study suggests. Little is known about the causes of biliary tract and gallbladder tumors, but emerging evidence suggests obesity as well as elevated blood sugar levels that are a hallmark of diabetes may increase the risk of these malignancies. Because sodas and other sugary drinks have been linked to high blood sugar and weight gain, researchers wondered if these beverages…

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