Coca Cola, commonly referred to as Coke is one of THE MOST popular soft drinks all over the world. In fact, so great is its popularity that after the word ‘Hello’, ‘Coca Cola’ is the second most recognized word in this entire world.
But the intimidating truth is that Coke is not friendly to human body. Scientific studies reveal that Coke is actually detrimental to human health. How?
Here are 23 horrifying Coca Cola facts that every one of us should know – especially those who cannot spend a single day without emptying a can of Coke in their stomach:
Coca Cola Facts: 1-7
1. Human body is not designed to be acidic. It is meant to be alkaline. Acidic condition inside the body is one of the primary reasons why cancer develops. Coke or Coca Cola is extremely acidic. How much acidic is Coke? When measured on pH scale, Coke beats an acid battery by one point.
2. Because of its extreme acidity, Coca Cola can be easily used to clean surfaces. How clean does it make a surface? The cleanliness it can provide is at par with that provided by our much known toxic household chemicals. So basically, we actually end up drinking a toxic substance.
3. Coca Cola has so deeply penetrated in this world that in many of the known 3rd world countries, clean drinking water is costlier than Coke.
4. In many 3rd world countries water shortages are primarily caused by Coca Cola, because they pull enormous amounts of water for their manufacturing process.
5. Studies reveal that people who drink Coca Cola every day have 48% higher risk of stroke and heart attack compared to those who drink Coke once in a while or do not drink Coke at all.
6. Respirology – a journal published a study where it was stated that regularly drinking Coke can also lead to breathing and lung disorders such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma.
7. Coke is responsible for making bones brittle and weak. Coke’s carbonation causes loss of calcium from bones.
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8. Because of Coca Cola’s carbonation, drinking Coke instantly irritates the stomach. So, what is carbonation? Coke is manufactured by mixing carbon dioxide with water. The resulting solution is nothing but carbonic acid. This mixing of carbon dioxide is known as carbonation.
9. When carbonic acid enters our body, our body needs to counter it using some kind of antacid. The only available antacid in our body is calcium. So, the stomach immediately extracts calcium from blood and uses it to neutralize the acid buildup in the stomach.
10. As the stomach draws out calcium from blood, blood faces a calcium shortage. This can severely impair brain and muscular functions. So, blood prevents that from happening by extracting calcium from bones, thereby making bones weak and brittle!
11. We have not yet reached the climax of this ‘Coca Cola Horror Movie’. Apart from carbonation, Coke has another imminent threat in it in form of phosphoric acid. Yes, that too is present in Coke.
12. It also reduces the calcium store of our body in the same way carbonic acid in Coke does. Thus, calcium drawdown takes place because of two acid components of Coke which leaves our bones weak and brittle.
13. When a beverage like Coca Cola enters human body, it immediately replaces water or milk. Though water and/or milk are not really ‘great’ sources of calcium, they still provide some calcium. Thus, on one hand Coke not only reduces the calcium content of our body, on the other, hand it also prevents calcium from entering the body.
14. Drinking Coke will immediately lead to what is known as acid reflux. This in simple language means that when you drink Coke or similar soft drink, the acids in your stomach start rising up and cross the esophageal valve.
This happens more when you lay down after drinking Coke. Result? This acid gradually causes mechanical damage to your esophagus and sets up the stage for esophageal cancer. Scientists say that the acid reflux that takes place is far beyond the danger level, and hence, we are exposed to an imminent cancer threat!
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15. Do you know the true purpose of stomach acids? They are responsible for dissolving tissues. Stomach itself is safeguarded by a lining which prevents the acid from dissolving body tissues, and hence, the acid in stomach only dissolves the tissues from food we eat.
What happens when this acid enters esophagus? Our esophagus is not blessed enough to have the same protective lining as our stomach, and hence, acid reflux leads to dissolving of tissues in esophagus which leads to cancer.
16. Now Coke contains sugar in astronomical amounts and the sad fact is that companies manufacturing sugar, sugarcane growers and dieticians do not want you to know this fact about Coke, because of the financial benefits associated with it.
So, how much sugar is present in Coke. Scientists have found out that one can of Coca Cola and other beverages by the same company contain a whopping 39 grams of sugar. So, what happens when you drink Coke?
17. Once you guzzle down a can of Coke, 10 teaspoons of sugar (that’s the exact amount recommended as your daily dietary intake) goes in your system within the first 10 minutes of drinking Coke.
But that amount of sugar taken at once should make someone puke, but why don’t you puke? That’s because of the phosphoric acid which allows your system to accommodate and keep that sugar in your body.
18. After another 10 minutes, i.e. exactly after 20 minutes, body increases the production of insulin as the blood sugar level increases significantly because of the sugar that goes in.
When insulin production increasing, liver gets into action by grabbing all the sugar it can and converts the sugar into fat. No wonder why you put on weight when you regularly drink Coke!
19. By the time 40 minutes are over after you drink a can of Coke, the caffeine content of Coke is completely absorbed by the body. Results? BP spikes and eye pupils expand.
This rise in BP forces the liver to dump more sugar in blood. This is exactly when brain’s adenosine receptors get blocked in order to prevent any drowsiness. So, you will have trouble sleeping if you drink Coke 40 minutes before you go to bed.
20. Add another 5 minutes and by the end of 45 minutes, dopamine levels increase in body and when this happens, brain’s pleasure centers are stimulated – an effect very similar to heroin intake.
21. The phosphoric acid that went down with the Coke binds zinc, magnesium and calcium in lower intestine exactly after 60 minutes. This starts a phase of supercharged metabolism, and calcium starts flowing out of body in form of urinary excretion.
22. Above 60 minutes, the caffeine that was absorbed in the body starts playing the diuretic game. Caffeine has diuretic properties which simply mean that you need to pee more often than usual when you take caffeine.
So, your trips to toilet increase by now, BUT… when you pee, the phosphoric acid goes out along with the zinc, magnesium and calcium that were bonded to it. Along with that, electrolytes, sodium and water also go out.
23. So after 60 minutes, your body excretes out the water that was present in Coke and the sugar levels in your blood comes tumbling down, making you sluggish and irritable and leaves you dehydrated.
So, now the story ends! Think! Do you want to continue drinking Coke after learning these 23 horrifying Coca Cola facts? Oh! So you are thinking of making a switcheroo to Coke Zero which Coca Cola advertises as zero-sugar healthy beverage! Hold on. We think we are not done yet!
Coca Cola Facts: The Horror of Coke Zero
Coke Zero contains aspartame – an artificial sweetener used instead of corn syrup that is used in Coke. This aspartame has the notorious amino acid known as phenylalanine. What does it do? It is known to interact with several medications and make their effects weaker or stronger – none of which is desirable.
Apart from that, this phenylalanine is known for worsening symptoms of different health conditions. Coke Zero also contains a compound named E211 which is nothing but sodium benzoate responsible for inflicting severe damages to the DNA. Actually it doesn’t destroy DNA but deactivates it leading to Parkinson’s disease and cirrhosis.
E211 is also not good for asthmatics and aspirin-sensitive people. Another component of Coke Zero is E338 which is nothing but orthophosphoric acid known for irritating eyes and skin.
We didn’t say what aspartame can do, did we? Ya, we did but briefly, but here is a list of damages that this thing can inflict on any human body:
- Aspartame is very unstable and the high temperature inside human body is capable of breaking it down into phenylalanine and methanol. Even 5-10 ml of methanol can damage optic nerves and cause irreversible blindness.
- Coke Zero is not always stored in refrigerators. They are refrigerated by sellers when needed or when the cold stocks run out. In warm conditions aspartame transforms into formaldehyde which is known as a carcinogenic compound.
- Aspartame dubbed as E951 can also lead to poisoning with following symptoms – unusual weight gain, palpitation, nausea, dizziness, fatigue, headaches, unconsciousness, memory loss, anxiety, irritability, joint pain, blurry vision, hearing loss, infertility and depression.
- Aspartame can also cause tuberculosis, mental deficiency, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, chronic fatigue, Graves’ disease, epilepsy, Multiple Sclerosis, and brain tumor.
Because of the dangers of Aspartame, it was once made illegal, but somehow and pretty mysteriously, it once again became legal and is commonly found in Coke Zero! So, now that we know the horrifying Coca Cola facts, it is time that we stand up against this company and instead of making it rich, we start banning the products of the company which is making billions of dollars at the cost of our health.
That concludes our list of coca cola facts. In case you think that it this facts list is insufficient, feel free to come up with more coca cola facts and drop them in the comments section for the benefiting the other readers.
Additional Source: “American Journal of Clinical Nutrition”; Consumption of High-Fructose Corn Syrup in Beverages May Play a Role in the Epidemic of Obesity; G.A, Bray et al.; April 2004
Is it true that flavor enhancers are used in Coke which come from aborted human babies’s kidneys? This known as Senomyx.
Just how long does it take for these issues to happen? I have been drinking Coke nearly every day of my life from the age of 10 to my current age of 76.