Don't Do the Dew
Mountain Dew is one of America's most popular soft drinks, finishing just behind Coca-Cola Classic, Pepsi-Cola and Diet Coke in sales in 2007. Its product is currently expanding rapidly, with new flavors Baja Blast,
Code Red, LiveWire and many others being added in recent years. Simply put,
Mountain Dew is on the rise, and so are its serious health concerns.
To start with
Mountain Dew contains
High Fructose Corn Syrup, a sugar substitute that many believe is worse for you than regular sugar. In high doses it can cause such serious health problems as obesity, migraines, lowered immune function, gallstones, and cardiovascular disease; just to name a few. Again, most people understand that high quantities of sugar are not good for you, but then how do you defend consuming 46g of it in a 12 oz can of Mountain Dew?
Another ingredient of
Mountain Dew is the relatively innocent looking food dye
Yellow 5 or
Tartrazine. Yellow 5 might cause behavioral problems in children and can cause allergic reactions. Who would have thought that a food dye could have such adverse effects?
Before I get to the really scary ingredients, I would like to mention some others that have less serious health risks or are just plain nasty.
Citric Acid can rot away your teeth if consumed in large enough quantities, which isn't surprising, since it's an acid.
Caffeine (and
Mountain Dew has a lot of it)is an addictive substance that can have serious withdrawal symptoms and can even produce some mild psychiatric disorders for those who are addicted to it.
Gum Arabic doesn't really have any worrying side effects, but it is a key ingredient in shoe polish, and is used sometimes in postage stamps and some watercolor paints. Doesn't sound tasty to me!
soda zote kaa nazo mbali kwa usalama wa afya yako.