Welcome to my podcast, Healing with Dr Helena, where I challenge the limiting way we currently view disease, and offer a new paradigm for vibrant health and true healing. If modern medicine isn’t providing you with enough answers, and you want to come alive and thrive, rather than merely survive, this podcast is for you.
It’s also for people who want to boost their brain to perform at their peak, avoid Alzheimer’s and other dementias, and live longer, stronger, healthier and happier.
Each episode comprises four parts:
- A Brain Booster
- A Health Headline
- An Exploration of What’s Missing from Modern Medicine
- A Whether Report where I answer your whether questions eg ‘I’d like to know whether you can explain how …’
So here’s a snapshot of episode 6.
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Today’s Brain Booster is: Skip the sugary sip — because every soft drink is a bullet to your brain!
A landmark study from what is known as the Framingham Heart Study (FHS), found that people who regularly consumed sugary drinks — including soft drinks, energy drinks, sports drinks, sweetened tea and fruit juices — had smaller brain volumes and scored worse in tests of recent memory.
A large review of US adults aged 60 years and older showed that increased consumption of the above-listed beverages was significantly linked to worsening cognitive function.
And an investigation of more than 177 000 UK residents who were followed for an average of nine and a half years revealed that those who drank two or more soft drinks a day had a significantly higher risk of developing dementia — whether or not they carried genes that increased their risk of Alzheimer’s. In other words, having good genes does not protect you from dementia if you drink sugary drinks.
So the message is clear: the more you drink, the more you shrink your brain and its ability to function.
But how do sugary drinks cause so much havoc to our brain? That’s what today’s Brain Booster is all about.
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Today’s Health Headline is: Soft drinks are the new cigarettes.
In podcast 5, I said that sitting was the new smoking. And it is. But equally so, soft drinks are the new cigarettes.
Is there a safe level of cigarette smoking? No. Smoking just ONE cigarette a day increases the risk of having a heart attack or stroke.
A similar scenario plays out for soft drinks. There is no safe level of soft drink consumption. The problem, however, is that there are no anti-soft drink campaigns or public health initiatives to encourage people to quit soft drinks because the general attitude to soft drinks is back where we were with cigarettes in the 1950s. Today’s Health Headline explores the lessons we can learn from dealing with cigarettes, and how we can apply those principles to soft drinks.
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What’s missing from modern medicine is the guts to stand up to the soft drink industry.
Much like cigarettes half a century ago, soft drinks have enjoyed decades of social acceptance while quietly contributing to all chronic diseases. This has to stop. And while there are scientists and public-health advocates arguing that sugary drinks warrant similar regulation to cigarettes, their voices aren’t loud enough.
Why aren’t the hazards of soft drinks taught in every school in every country in the world?
Why aren’t soft drink vending machines banned from educational institutions, work places and fitness centres? Especially given that soft drinks erode productivity and undo what people are trying to achieve at the gym.
Why aren’t there soft drink public education campaigns, warning labels, taxes and stricter marketing controls — especially in relation to young people?
Given the overwhelming strength of accumulating evidence, sugar-sweetened drinks should be labelled as a public health hazard, not a ‘dietary choice’. Governments need to allow people to make informed choices about what they’re drinking. Instead, they passively stand by as entire populations are brainwashed into drinking brown bubbles.
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And today’s Whether Report addresses the following dilemma: Can you please tell me whether fruit juice is healthy or not? I keep seeing contradictory messages about fruit juice. One minute I’m told to go on a juice cleanse, and the next minute I hear that fruit juice has too much sugar and I shouldn’t drink it at all. Also can you tell me whether squeezing my own fruit at home is healthier than buying ready-made juice from the grocery store? And finally, please tell me whether using a blender or NutriBullet to make a smoothie is healthier than simply drinking juice.
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Click here to watch the episode on my YouTube channel, or listen to Healing with Dr Helena on your preferred podcast platform. I’ll publish a new episode every Monday, and you’ll receive an email notification that morning. Please subscribe to my podcast or YouTube channel so that you don’t miss an episode, and send your whether questions to: podcast@drhelenapopovic.com
If you’re happy for me to play your voice on my podcast, you can provide an audio file. Otherwise, you can type your question for me to read out.
I very much look forward to answering your questions and exploring how we can all build a smarter brain, stronger body and deeply fulfilling life.
Please share this Health-e-Byte with anyone who may be unaware to machine gun.
Photo credit: I took this photo at the World of Coca Cola in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. The World of Coca-Cola is an interactive museum dedicated to the history, branding, and products of The Coca-Cola Company, so of course I had to pay a visit for learning purposes. It features a vault holding the secret formula, a tasting room with over 100 beverages, a 4D theatre, and memorabilia. How can any other food or drink ever compete with that? Coca Cola was founded in Atlanta in 1892, and the city remains the company headquarters. Imagine how well my presentation went down when I spoke there last year.
