It’s summer, it’s hot and we’re all dying for an ice-cold soda to cool us down, to go with everything we eat. And the more you drink, the more you feel like you need it all the time, right? There’s a scary reason for that. Apparently Fanta Orange, Gatorade, Powerade and Mountain Dew contain something called flame retardant. Now how is this bad? This chemical has something named brominated vegetable oil in it. This substance is so dangerous that it has been banned from Europe and Japan. Not US though! Here, BVO can be found in 10 percent of all sodas.

Sometimes you hear about people feeling sick after consuming large quantities of soda and you don’t know what to believe. Well, it’s true. People who consumed too much soda were reported to get skin lesions, nerve disorders and even memory loss – which are exactly the symptoms that excessive bromine causes.

Less common but still very real is the effect of a decrease in the fertility level, as studies on animals and humans have shown. Other effects are impaired neurological development and puberty deregulation. It also affects the heart and the liver and has a damaging effect on breast milk.

With all this evidence that this stuff is bad for us you would think that we can no longer buy it. But apparently FDA still labels this type of soda as safe, and they even issued a press statement to state it.

The question on your mind right now is probably why do they put flame retardant in soda anyway? Is it really a must-have ingredient? Has the whole continent of Europe plus Japan gone insane and forbid it for nothing? Not likely. In fact, EU uses another substance that doesn’t have so many negative effects in drinks. US thinks it’s too expensive. Unbelievable, right? These billion-dollar fat cats say they can’t afford NOT to give us cancer and other horrible, deadly diseases. Obviously they’re in bed with the FDA, because it’s not like these ones are doing anything about it either.

Scientists have conducted experiments and studies to see how do the chems in soda affect us, and found terrifying results. Apparently, it’s enough to drink a can a day for your metabolism to be affected. Children are the most affected, as they become addicted to soft drinks, which also destroy their appetite. The way they make soft drinks creates an imbalance in our weight on the long-run too, and makes us more vulnerable to type 2 diabetes. In addition to all of this, soda thickens the blood vessels, affects the cholesterol and may be responsible for liver failure or severe afflictions.

My advice to you is to know what you eat and drink; don’t get fooled by a refreshing, sweet taste of a soft drink and ask yourself – what makes it so good? Is it ok to give in to a moment in exchange for my health?