I am here to tell you a story about health, the most important aspect of our lives.
“WEE-OOO! WEE-OOO!” The ambulance siren wails as the Emergency Room door swings open. But the patient wheeled in is not a 70-year-old elder. The person clutching their chest, sweating coldly, is Mr. Kim, in his mid-30s. Recently, whenever he ate out with his kids, they would inevitably order sodas. Especially at buffets or restaurants with side bars offering unlimited soft drinks, he would naturally consume them during the meal. He didn’t think much of it at the time, but after witnessing a young person suffer a heart issue, as mentioned in the opening, he started to research the details. And now, I write this post to issue a warning more serious than ever before.
Lately, Emergency Rooms are seeing patients who are ‘too young’ suffering from ‘too old’ diseases. Hypertension in 20s, Myocardial Infarction (heart attack) in 30s. This is no longer just someone else’s story. The statistics are chilling. The number of hypertension patients in the 2030 generation is nearing 900,000, and diabetes patients have surpassed 300,000. Even scarier, over half of them don’t even know they are sick.
Hospital doctors face the ‘results’ every day in the ER. Burst blood vessels, stopped hearts. But after saving the patient and sending them to the operating room, a massive sense of powerlessness washes over them. It feels like pouring water into a bottomless pit? No, it’s like a faucet is broken and water is gushing out, and doctors are just wiping up the floor. Unless the faucet itself is turned off, this tragedy will never end.
So, what exactly is that ‘faucet’? Genetics? Of course, that plays a role. But the culprit behind this current ‘youthful catastrophe’ is something else entirely. It is your ‘dietary habits’ and ‘lifestyle.’
The ‘Quiet Scream’ of 2030 Blood Vessels: The Culprit is ‘This’
If you ask people what the world’s worst food is, most will think of pork belly fat, overly salty soup, or cookies packed with trans fats. They are certainly excellent (?) villains. But if doctors had to name just one, the ‘world’s worst food,’ they would unhesitatingly point to ‘Sugar-Sweetened Beverages.’
Yes, I mean the sweet liquid you are casually drinking right now.
Why is ‘Soda’ the Absolute Worst Food?
We are deceived by the word ‘Eum-ryo-soo’ (음료수, literally ‘drinking water’). It means ‘drinking water,’ but in reality, it’s ‘sugar water’ or a ‘Liquid Fructose Bomb.’ Why is this worse than solid sugary snacks?
- The Speed and Absorption Rate are Insane. Liquid sugar, especially ‘liquid fructose’ made from corn syrup, causes a vertical spike in blood sugar the moment it enters your body. This ‘blood sugar spike’ overworks the pancreas and relentlessly assaults the endothelial cells lining your blood vessels, causing inflammation and damage.
- It Gives Zero Satiety. We don’t do ‘mukbangs’ (eating shows) with natural foods. We do them with processed foods like Tteokbokki, chicken, and pizza. Why? Because the brain doesn’t feel satisfied, making you keep eating. Soda is far more severe. The feeling of fullness is close to ‘zero.’ Even if you drink the sugar equivalent of a bowl of rice, you don’t feel full, so you drink it endlessly with and after your meal.
- It’s a ‘Visceral Fat’ Creator That Directly Attacks the Liver. Fructose, unlike glucose, must be metabolized by the liver, similar to alcohol. The liver gets exhausted trying to process this useless fructose, and the remaining sugar is converted into ‘Triglycerides’ and systematically stored as ‘Visceral Fat.’ Increased belly fat isn’t just a cosmetic issue. Visceral fat is an inflammatory mass itself. These inflammatory substances (cytokines) travel through the bloodstream and destroy your entire body.
- It Doesn’t Quench Thirst. This is the biggest betrayal. Sweet or salty drinks raise the osmotic pressure of your body, actually pulling water out of your cells. You drink it because you are thirsty, but your body enters a worse state of dehydration—a vicious cycle. Your body wanted ‘water,’ but you poured in ‘sugar water.’
“Then What Can I Drink?” The Only 3 Drinks Doctors Allow
“Come on, Doc. Are you telling me to live only on water?” Yes, that is actually the correct answer. But in this harsh world, we can’t be denied every pleasure. The drinks doctors allow—or ‘compromise’ on—with patients, saying “These are okay,” are exactly 3:
- WaterNo words needed. The human body is 70% water, not soda. Thirst must be quenched with water. (Is sparkling water okay instead of flat water? Yes, pure sugar-free sparkling water is fine.)
- AmericanoPure black coffee, with absolutely no added sugar, syrup, honey, or condensed milk. The antioxidant properties of coffee itself have benefits. (Of course, even this should not be overdone.)
- Unsweetened TeaPure leaf teas like green tea, rooibos, or hibiscus with no added sugar.
“What about a latte?” If you really must have one, an unsweetened pure milk + coffee combination is sometimes allowed as a ‘snack’ rather than a ‘beverage.’ But remember: Every drink containing ‘liquid fructose’ must be eliminated from your life today. Is zero-calorie soda okay? That’s another debate, but it’s 100 times better than ‘liquid fructose.’
The ‘Avengers of Death’ 4 Horsemen That Destroy Your Blood Vessels
Of course, quitting soda won’t solve everything. The villains destroying your blood vessels move as a team.
- The Assassin of Smoke: SmokingWhen it comes to the heart and blood vessels, tobacco is the undisputed villain number one. Nicotine directly constricts blood vessels and causes inflammation. Carbon monoxide adheres to red blood cells 200 times more strongly than oxygen, putting your body in a state of chronic ‘oxygen deprivation.’ When I was a resident, the lungs of smokers I touched in the operating room… they were supposed to feel like sponges, but they were hard and crumbly, saturated with tar. The shock of thinking, ‘How did they breathe with this?’ is vivid even 20 years later. Your blood vessels are hardening in the same way.
- The Green Bottle’s Lie: Alcohol”Soju is not a drink; it’s a chemical.” This is what I constantly stress. This ‘processed sugar’—alcohol mixed with sweeteners—itself causes blood sugar spikes while simultaneously attacking the liver with alcohol toxins. Alcohol chronically raises blood pressure by stimulating the sympathetic nervous system and causes the heart to beat irregularly (Atrial Fibrillation). This is known as ‘Holiday Syndrome.’ We see so many people rushed to the ER with arrhythmias after binge-drinking during holidays.
- The Invisible Pressure: Chronic StressStress is the state of encountering a ‘beast.’ Our body enters an emergency state to either Fight or Flight. Pupils widen, the heart races like crazy, and blood pressure soars. Digestion and immune function are turned off as ‘luxuries.’ The problem is that the ‘beasts’ met by modern people (bosses, loan payments, report cards) never disappear. When the ‘battle mode’ persists 24/7, the blood vessels become stiffened, saturated with stress hormones (cortisol, epinephrine).
- The Suffocation of Death: Sleep Deprivation & Sleep ApneaLack of sleep has the same effect as chronic stress. Appetite explodes (increased ghrelin), and satiety is dulled (decreased leptin). But the ‘final boss’ of sleep problems is ‘Sleep Apnea.’ This condition, where you stop breathing while asleep, is equivalent to your body repeatedly enduring ‘drowning’ and ‘survival’ every night. With oxygen supply plummeting, the heart and brain cannot cope. Sleep Apnea raises the risk of Myocardial Infarction and stroke by a shocking 3 to 5 times. If your snoring is severe, you are not just tired; you are ‘sick.’ You must go to the hospital immediately.
Is It Too Late to Stop? The Heart’s ‘Final Signal’
When these habits combine to block your blood vessels by 50%… 70%… 90%… the day inevitably comes. Myocardial Infarction. The heart muscle begins to die. Don’t wait until you’re wheeled into the ER thinking, “I’ll be fine.” Please, remember these signals. You must pay close attention to the warning signs of a heart attack.
- Chest Pain (Angina): Described as “clutching the chest,” or “like red pepper flakes have been sprinkled inside.” It can hurt in the center of the chest or the right side, not just the left.
- Cold Sweat: The critical difference between simple muscle pain and a heart attack! If you are not hot but are profusely sweating, it is 100% an emergency.
- Shortness of Breath: The feeling of “being out of breath.”
- Other Atypical Symptoms: Especially women and diabetics may complain of nausea (like indigestion), dizziness, or extreme fatigue.
If these symptoms last longer than 5 minutes, do not think, “I’ll feel better if I rest.” That might not be Angina; it could be a heart attack. When the pain that ‘doesn’t subside with rest’—the warning sign of a heart attack—arrives, you must call 911 (or 119 in Korea), not your family or friends.
The Golden Time is 2 Hours: You Can Be a ‘Superhero’
When a blood vessel is completely blocked by a heart attack, the Golden Time to prevent the death of the heart muscle is just 2 hours. You need to arrive at a hospital capable of performing the procedure within 1 hour via ambulance, to allow for examination and preparation to unblock the vessel within 2 hours.
But there is a more urgent situation: when a patient collapses right in front of you. 30% of acute heart attack patients die from Ventricular Fibrillation (when the heart merely quivers) before even reaching the hospital.
Let’s say the ambulance arrives in 10 minutes. The brain starts to suffer damage after only 4-5 minutes without oxygen. The death rate increases by 10% every minute. When the ambulance arrives 10 minutes later, the patient is already 100% likely to be brain dead or deceased.
The only person who can sustain them for those 10 minutes is ‘You.’
If you find someone collapsed, call 911 immediately and do not stop chest compressions (CPR) until the paramedics arrive. Each of your rough compressions is sending blood to the brain, saving one person’s life and one family’s future. This is not a choice; it is a duty.
The Final Prescription: It’s Time to Turn Off the ‘Faucet’
Doctors will be guarding the Emergency Room tonight. And they will be wiping up the water gushing from the faucet. But I sincerely hope that you, having read this post, will turn off the faucet yourself.
Health is not about ‘special secrets’; it’s about adhering to ‘obvious common sense.’
Open your refrigerator today and throw out those sweet ‘Liquid Fructose Bombs.’ And fill that space with ‘water.’ That is the easiest, fastest, and most certain first step to saving your blood vessels.
I sincerely hope to meet you outside the hospital, in good health.
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Oing contemplates realistic side hustles and survival strategies in the capitalist structure, together with you.
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