• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to after header navigation
  • Skip to site footer
The Healthy Home Economist

The Healthy Home Economist

embrace your right to a lifetime of health

Get Plus
  • Home
  • About
  • My Books
  • Shopping List
  • Archives
  • Log in
  • Get Plus
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Get Plus
  • Log in
  • Home
  • About
  • Subscribe
  • Archives
  • My Books
  • Shopping List
  • Recipes
  • Healthy Living
  • Natural Remedies
  • Green Living
  • Videos
  • Natural Remedies
  • Health
  • Green Living
  • Recipes
  • Videos
  • Subscribe
Healthy Home Economist / Archives / Healthy Living / Soda Pushed in Hospital Recovery Room

Soda Pushed in Hospital Recovery Room

by Sarah Pope / Affiliate Links ✔

soda in hospitalMy friend Paula’s husband had surgery recently and guess what he was given by the nurses in the recovery room?

Shasta soda!  Above is a picture of Rick shortly after Paula walked in to visit right after his surgery.

Let’s check out the ingredients of the Shasta soda and see if medical personnel should really be handing this stuff out to vulnerable people who have just had major surgery:

Shasta Soda:  Carbonated Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Citric Acid, Potassium Benzoate (Preservative), Caramel Color, Sucralose, Natural Flavor, Salt

The big baddies I see in this ingredients list are:

High Fructose Corn Syrup: Calorie for calorie, high fructose corn syrup is more dangerous than white sugar as it is more likely to cause weight gain as published in the Journal of American Clinical Nutrition in 2004. Large amounts of fructose consumed such as what would happen with a can of soda turn quickly into triglycerides in the bloodstream or are stored as fat.

Not a very wise drink choice for recovering surgery patients or anyone for that matter!

Citric Acid:  Manufactured from corn, very likely genetically modified.  Citric acid coming from corn has traces of MSG in it which is a proven neurotoxin which triggers a wide variety of physical symptoms in many people some very severe.

Potassium Benzoate:  A dangerous chemical preservative similar to sodium benzoate.  I wrote a post awhile back on how sodium benzoate damages DNA and the link to neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s.  Potassium Benzoate is in the same class of chemicals and should not be consumed particularly by vulnerable post-op patients!

Sucralose:  This is an artificial sweetener that is manufactured by chlorinating natural sugar. The Sucralose Toxicity Information Center states that:

While it is unlikely that sucralose is as toxic as the poisoning people are experiencing from Monsanato’s aspartame, it is clear from the hazards seen in pre-approval research and from its chemical structure that years or decades of use may contribute to serious chronic immunological or neurological disorders.

Oh great. It’s slightly better than aspartame! Let’s serve it to hospital patients then!

Natural Flavor:  The problem with “natural flavor” is that it is not natural.  You never know what is hidden as this is an industry “catch all” label. It is best to avoid products that have “natural flavor” listed just to be on the safe side.

There is no doubt that it is highly irresponsible for hospital personnel to be handing out chemical and sugar laden drinks to post-op patients.   What’s so hard about handing out plain carbonated water or at the very least, 100% fruit juice diluted with plain carbonated water to settle the stomach?

Why all the chemicals and dangerous sweeteners?

Do you really think it’s wise to be listening to these people for any sort of dietary advice?

Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist

FacebookPinEmailPrint
Category: Healthy Living
Sarah Pope

Sarah Pope MGA has been a Health and Nutrition Educator since 2002. She is a summa cum laude graduate in Economics from Furman University and holds a Master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

She is the author of three books: the bestseller Get Your Fats Straight, Traditional Remedies for Modern Families, and Living Green in an Artificial World.

Her four eBooks Good Diet…Bad Diet, Real Food Fermentation, Ketonomics, and Ancestrally Inspired Dairy-Free Recipes are available for complimentary download via Healthy Home Plus.

Her mission is dedicated to helping families effectively incorporate the principles of ancestral diets within the modern household. She is a sought after lecturer around the world for conferences, summits, and podcasts.

Sarah was awarded Activist of the Year in 2010 at the International Wise Traditions Conference, subsequently serving on the Board of Directors of the nutrition nonprofit the Weston A. Price Foundation for seven years.

Her work has been covered by numerous independent and major media including USA Today, ABC, and NBC among many others.

You May Also Like

Why Plant Based Diets Cannot Maintain Health

Why Plant Based Diets Cannot Maintain Health

The Do's and Don'ts of Buying Bone Broth

The Do’s and Don’ts of Buying Bone Broth

Hot Cosmetic Trend: Gap Teeth

coffee and gluten sensitivity

Coffee and Gluten Sensitivity: Never the Twain Shall Meet?

healthy and fun holiday eating

Navigating Holiday Fare Healthfully (while still having fun!)

6 Frequently Overlooked Signs of Adrenal Fatigue

6 Frequently Overlooked Signs of Adrenal Fatigue

Feeling Tired More Than You Should?

Get a free chapter of my book Get Your Fats Straight + my weekly newsletter and learn which fats to eat (and which to avoid) to reduce sugar cravings and improve energy significantly!

We send no more than one email per week. You will never be spammed or your email sold, ever.
Loading

Reader Interactions

Comments (63)

  1. Jarreau

    Oct 17, 2015 at 1:11 pm

    actually they been do that for years since born i talk mom month ago i was born in 1988 my mom told me was nurses fault for my love soda she told every time i had surgery they also me pop i was really ? so this not new it has been going on since 1988 or maybe long do give apple juice now when get sick !

    Reply
  2. Kelly

    May 15, 2012 at 11:02 am

    Sarah,

    For someone who wants to shame bad attitudes and behavior, I am disappointed you didn’t name names. The name of the hospital nor its owner was not named. Also, the nurse who made the nasty comment wasn’t named either. Paula acts as if her husband had no free will in the recovery room. Was he able to ask for water if he wanted it? Did he have no control of what he put into his mouth? Further, no one has said anything about filing complaints with the state authorities against the hospital and challenging the nurse’s license. If Paula feels so strongly about this, why didn’t she take further action beyond dumping the soda with nine to eleven teaspoons of sugar in the trash.

    Reply
  3. Emily

    Feb 17, 2012 at 10:28 pm

    I’m not much of a soda drinker, because I know it’s not great for you, but my guess is that one of the main reasons that they have ginger ale in the recovery room is because people may be queasy after surgery (due to the effects of the anesthesia), and ginger ale is great for settling your stomach. Growing up, we always had that to drink when we were sick, and it worked great!

    Reply
  4. Tricia

    Feb 16, 2012 at 11:31 pm

    I would absolutely love it if my hospital offered homemade food and bone broth. However, they do not. I have to give my patients something to see if they will keep it down before going home. First off, you’re supposed to let the ginger ale go flat. I myself was given flat pop/soda as a child for a sick tummy. Guess what? it kept me out of the ER or pediatrician’s office. I am a nurse, but believe me I am not plotting your death. I work my butt off trying to save people. Other than my slightly hurt feelings, I enjoy the recipes! Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  5. Tony

    Feb 16, 2012 at 2:33 pm

    ‘ Fresh ‘ post op patients should not have anything carbonated to drink period.

    Broth, water, herbal tea, etc should be the norm. That should also be taken in slowly and in small amounts.

    The logic behind this is that anesthesia slows ( ie puts your gut to sleep ) gastric motility. Putting a carbonated liquid in a post op patients GI tract is trouble waiting to happen. If the absorbed C02 cannot be passed from the top ( belching ) or bottom ( flatus ) abdominal pain and vomiting can result. Combine that with an abdominal surgery, appendix, colectomy, etc and the patient could also result in a dehisced ( popped stitches ) incision as a result of the vomiting.

    ALL soft drinks, unless home made, should be labeled as toxic. There is nothing good about them.

    Reply
  6. Yolanda

    Feb 16, 2012 at 11:01 am

    Unfortunately, it is “normal” and to be expected that post op patients are given gingerale or 7up. No one there is even thinking about (nor do they care) about nutrition. Sad, but true, in my opinion.

    Reply
  7. Natalia

    Feb 15, 2012 at 12:07 pm

    I just got back from a hospital after vomiting a storm for 4 days. The first thing they gave me to see if I keep it down were clear liquids: jello (don’t even want to know what was in there), italian ice (high fructose corn syrup), broth from cube, this soda, and tea (the only thing I drank) and apple juice. For lunch I got meat loaf with gravy, nasty mashed potatoes, boiled green peas and carrots, piece of bread (I don’t need to tell you the ingredients), apple pie, soda again and milk. And yes, “heart healthy” vegetable oil spread:)
    Sure after 4 days of vomiting, the first thing my stomach needs is all this crap!
    What was funny that after lunch came the lady from the dietary department to ask me how my lunch was and why I didn’t eat anything. “Well, where do I start?” I thought to myself. I just told her hat mashed potatoes were nasty, didn’t say anything else. She did offer to bring me some fruit, though, if I wanted.

    Reply
  8. Lori @ Laurel of Leaves

    Feb 14, 2012 at 7:45 pm

    This is exactly what happened to my 6-year old niece when she was admitted to the hospital recently for pneumonia. The very first thing the nurse recommended when asking if she wanted something to drink was a Coke or Sprite. She’s 6! And she has pneumonia!! Sigh . . .

    Reply
  9. Christine Decarolis

    Feb 13, 2012 at 9:25 pm

    While I wasn’t offered soda during my most recent post-op experience, it was the packet of literature that I was given that appalled me. What I originally thought was instructions for follow-up care at home turned out to be a stack of papers, in English and Spanish, explaining why I needed a flu shot and pneumonia shot as well other pages describing “healthy” habits to prevent myself from catching either.

    Reply
  10. nicole

    Feb 13, 2012 at 5:11 pm

    I totally agree that the food in hospitals is deplorable. But when you’re nauseous sometimes soda is the only thing that helps. I’m 10 weeks pregnant right now and for the last two weeks I have had more gingerale and cola than I have in the last five years. There are mornings where it is truly the only thing I can keep down in tiny sips through a straw. Even the thought of chicken broth, juice or ginger tea makes me queasy. I made my own ginger syrup and mixed it with sparkling water and it was definitely a no go!! They offer these things for a reason…they settle stomaches. I only wish hospitals would stock healthier versions that have real sugar and flavors AND alternatives for people who don’t want to drink them.

    Reply
« Older Comments

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Sidebar

Mother Nature’s Medicine Cabinet

5 Secrets to a Strong Immune System

Loading

The Healthy Home Economist

Since 2002, Sarah has been a Health and Nutrition Educator dedicated to helping families effectively incorporate the principles of ancestral diets within the modern household. Read More

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Check Out My Books

Mother Nature’s Medicine Cabinet

5 Secrets to a Strong Immune System

Loading

Contact the Healthy Home Economist. The information on this website has not been evaluated by the FDA and is not intended to diagnose, treat, prevent, or cure any disease. By accessing or using this website, you agree to abide by the Terms of Service, Full Disclaimer, Privacy Policy, Affiliate Disclosure, and Comment Policy.

Copyright © 2009–2023 · The Healthy Home Economist · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc.

Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!