We’ve been told they removed cocaine from it almost 100 years ago, but one pharmacist claims there’s still an abundance of health problems filling our body when we drink a chilled can of coke on a hot Aussie summer’s day.
And that high? Yes, there still is one. Similar to heroin.
Niraj Naik has written on his blog Truth Theory about Coca Cola, and the affect it has on our body. Not only in one hour, but over time.
Titled “What Happens One Hour After Drinking A Can Of Coke,” Naik posts the scientific breakdown of Coke consumption, originally published by Wade Meredith.
Here it is in full:
In the first 10 minutes: 10 teaspoons of sugar hit your system. (100% of your recommended daily intake.) You don’t immediately vomit from the overwhelming sweetness because phosphoric acid cuts the flavor, allowing you to keep it down.
20 minutes: Your blood sugar spikes, causing an insulin burst. Your liver responds to this by turning any sugar it can get its hands on into fat. (And there’s plenty of that at this particular moment.)
40 minutes: Caffeine absorption is complete. Your pupils dilate; your blood pressure rises; as a response, your liver dumps more sugar into your bloodstream. The adenosine receptors in your brain are now blocked, preventing drowsiness.
45 minutes: Your body ups your dopamine production, stimulating the pleasure centers of your brain. This is physically the same way heroin works, by the way.
60 minutes: The phosphoric acid binds calcium, magnesium, and zinc in your lower intestine, providing a further boost in metabolism. This is compounded by high doses of sugar and artificial sweeteners also increasing the urinary excretion of calcium.
60 minutes: The caffeine’s diuretic properties come into play. (It makes you have to pee.) It is now assured that you’ll evacuate the bonded calcium, magnesium, and zinc that was headed to your bones as well as sodium, electrolytes, and water.
60 minutes: As the rave inside you dies down, you’ll start to have a sugar crash. You may become irritable and/or sluggish. You’ve also now, literally, pissed away all the water that was in the Coke. But not before infusing it with valuable nutrients your body could have used for things like hydrating your system, or building strong bones and teeth.
Naik felt drawn to investigate the effects of Coca-Cola after seeing so many patients battle with obesity – then the following lifestyle-related diseases – despite trying to lose weight on a ‘low fat’ diet.
Sometimes they would end up gaining weight, claims Naik.
“I actually discovered that a trigger factor for many widespread diseases of the west such as obesity, heart disease and diabetes could be closely linked to the consumption of one particular substance found in many processed foods and drinks – fructose in the form of high fructose corn syrup,” he writes.
It’s found in soft drinks (especially Coke), almost all processed foods, including ‘low fat’ and “often found in ‘low fat’ supposedly healthy alternatives and even more popular weight loss products”.
While Glucose can be broken down easily and tells your brain when you’re full, fructose – and especially high fructose corn syrup – doesn’t, writes Naik.
“It confuses the liver and ends up making lots of bad fats in the process. It also doesn’t signal your brain that you are full. This is why people can drink massive cups of fizzy drinks which are high in fructose and still eat huge meals containing refined foods that are also full of fructose.
“Coke is not just high in high fructose corn syrup, but it is also packed with refined salts and caffeine. Regular consumption of these ingredients in the high quantities you find in Coke and other processed foods and drinks, can lead to higher blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes and obesity.”
