A heart surgeon has issued a stern warning about something millions of people drink every day.
Dr Jeremy London specialises in general surgery, vascular surgery and thoracic surgery, and has opened up on Instagram about several things that can cause serious damage to your health if you're not careful.
Topping the list, unsurprisingly, is smoking - something we've all known for a very long time is bad for us, with the expert saying bluntly that it 'destroys your lungs, causes lung cancer, high cardiovascular risks, heart attacks and strokes, don't smoke.'
He also frowns upon alcohol, slamming it as 'toxic to every cell in your body' and said that quitting drinking was 'one of the most transformative decisions I've made as an adult'.
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However, there is one drink in particular he has damned as 'liquid death', and it's probably lurking in your fridge right now.
The surgeon said fizzy drinks and soda are 'Liquid death. Just don't drink them. Period. Done.'
Straight to the point there!
According to Daily Star, Dr London followed up on his comments about sodas in an interview with Today, and said the 'liquid death' tag was to get your attention and raise awareness.
He insisted: "I think that soft drinks are just a scourge in our society, and so I was really trying to get some attention."
The expert continued: "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."
Other experts have sided with him, with Dr William Li recently speaking on the Zoe podcast: "Soda is everyone's favourite whipping boy. Rightfully so. The preponderance of clinical evidence, public health evidence, shows that high consumption of soda is associated with everything from metabolic disease to cardiovascular disease to cancer risk.
"But is it the sugar? Is glucose that demonic element that we need to crucify? Answer's no. Soda is not just water, otherwise that'd be just carbonated water. But soda itself has all these additives, colours, flavourings, preservatives, stabilisers... that is accumulated exposure to toxins. It's not one exposure, it's the chronic exposure over time."
His warning comes after US President Donald Trump insisted soda was good for him, and he genuinely believes it 'kills cancer cells'
A former cardiothoracic surgeon, Dr Mehmet Oz, who is now the Administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, appeared on the Triggered with Don Jr. podcast hosted by Donald Trump Jr., 48.
The surgeon said he was shocked by Trump's opinions: “Your dad argues that diet soda is good for him because it kills grass — if poured on grass — so, therefore, it must kill cancer cells inside the body,” Dr Oz explained.
“You know, we were on Air Force One the other day, and I walk in there because he wants to talk about something, and he's got an orange soft drink on his desk. He's got a Fanta on the desk.”
“And I say, ‘Are you kidding me?’ So he starts to, like, sheepishly grin. He says, ‘You know, this stuff’s good for me, it kills cancer cells.’”
FOODbible has contacted the White House for comment regarding Dr Oz’s comments.
Jen Thomas