With health and wellness on the rise, people are taking the phrase ‘you are what you eat,’ more seriously than ever. According to experts, ‘you are what you drink’ too, and there’s one type of beverage a heart surgeon stays well away from.
As more people pay closer attention to what they consume each day, one surgeon has pointed to a popular drink he believes does serious harm, describing it as ‘liquid death’.
In a social media post, Dr Jeremy London, who holds board certification in vascular thoracic and general surgery, shared four things he ‘absolutely avoids’ as a cardiac surgeon — and one of them is something many people drink regularly.
The first, he said, is smoking, calling it the ‘single worst thing you can do to your body’.
Next, he warned followers that alcohol is ‘toxic’ to every cell in your body, while also noting that people make their own choices about it. Even so, he didn’t single out alcohol as ‘liquid death’. Instead, he pointed the label at soft drinks.
“Just don’t drink them, period, done,” he says, without adding any more context.
Later, he expanded on why he talks about soft drinks so strongly — also acknowledging that his phrasing was intended to grab attention.
“I think that soft drinks are just a scourge in our society, and so I was really trying to get some attention,” he admitted in an interview with TODAY , though he maintained his overall view.
“Obviously, high-calorie soft drinks and ingesting a lot of calories that people don’t realise they’re getting with the sugar-based soft drinks is a big no-no,” he added.
Research has also explored links between soft drinks and health outcomes. A study referenced in the National Library of Medicine reviewed existing evidence by conducting a meta-analysis of 88 studies, looking at how these beverages relate to nutrition and health.
The researchers reported ‘clear associations of soft drink intake with increased energy intake and body weight’.
They also concluded that drinking soft drinks was linked to lower intakes of milk, calcium, and other nutrients, alongside an increased risk of health issues including diabetes.
There are dental concerns too. Dentists have cautioned that soft drinks can be damaging because of their sugar and acidity; as Colgate notes, they can ‘ soften tooth enamel, which can contribute to cavities.’
For anyone curious about the last item on Dr London’s avoid-list, it may be unpopular: bread and pasta.
“Avoid the refined flours and wheats,” he added. “I guarantee you can out eat any exercise you did,” he said, arguing that 80% of weight control comes from diet, with the remaining 20% tied to exercise.
We may pretend we didn’t hear that one…