Do you think of soft drink as just another delicious way to quench your

thirst, boost your energy and satisfy your taste buds? Maybe you already

know that soft drinks aren't the best for you, maybe you don't. Either way,

keep reading to find you what these tasty refreshers really are and don't

forget to try the cool experiments at the end!! So lets have a quick look at

what is in this stuff.

Aspartame

Used as a sugar substitute in many soft drinks, this artificial sweetener

can cause brain tumors, birth defects, epilepsy, diabetes and emotional

disorders. This product is often marketed separately as a powdered sugar

substitute. Also works well as ant killer.

Sugar

The high levels of sugar in soft drinks is one of the oldest lines in the book.

For the soft drinks that use sugar as the sweetener, it can be one of the

safest ingredients in the whole drink. In reality, many of the soft drinks

these days don't even have sugar. Instead, they use sweeteners like corn

syrup and aspartame. These substitute sugars are much more dangerous

that sugar itself. Corn syrup in itself isn't artificial like aspartame, but the

effects can still be disastrous. The high fructose levels in corn syrup can

lead to rapid weight gain and obesity by impairing your body's appetite

sensors, so that your body no longer knows when to stop taking in sugar. Think 'beer belly'!

Citric Acid

Although the original citric acid was a natural product made from citrus fruit and was used to give the drinks their zing, the "citric acid" used in soft drink today in actually a compound made from fermented crude sugars. This new acid can lead to severe illness.

Bromine

Bromine is added to soft drinks to spread out the citric acid. One of the characteristics of bromine is its ability to solidify oils. When bromine is stirred into a bowl of oil, the liquid oil will slowly become so solid that you aren’t able to move the spoon. Just think of what would happen when this substance comes in to contact with your body's fat stores. We're talking permanent fat.

Cool Experiments With Soft Drinks!!!

Take your favorite soft drink and try these out. Some form of cola works best.(I do not guarantee that these will work)

Pour a can of soft drink into your toilet bowl and leave for an hour. The citric acid will eat away the stains. No scrubbing, no effort.

Apply a rag soaked in soft drink to the rusty bolt for a few minutes. This should eat away the rust and help loosen the bolt.

Add a can of cola to a load of greasy clothes, add detergent and run through your regular cycle.

Pour a can of soft drink over your corroded car battery terminals and let the corrosion bubble away.

Drop some metal nails that you no longer want into a bottle of cola. In a few days your unwanted nails should be gone.

Spill some on a concrete surface that you want cleaned and watch what happens when a fly takes a drink. Also notice how clean your concrete gets!

If you're game, spill some on your car and watch what happens to your paintwork. There goes that resale value.

So far it's lookin' like a bug killing, rust removing, paint stripping, nail dissolving, toilet cleaner wrapped up in a pretty can and refrigerated for your enjoyment. I don't think so!

Now that you don't want to touch soft drink ever again, here is a refreshing alternative....

Home-made Lemonade

8 cups water               1/2 cup honey

Juice of 6 lemons      Ice

Warm up some of the water on the stove and melt the honey into it. Add the rest of the water and chill. When cold, mix in strained lemon juice.Pour over ice and serve! 

Written by Sabrina