My sister drinks a lot of diet coke, it’s probably going to kill her (yes I’m aware that a. I am a horrible photoshopper and b. my sister is my polar opposite).
Today I got an e-mail from the ecologist informing me of the top 5 foods I should be avoiding, amongst those top 5 was good ol’ diet coke.
Coke has come up on this blog a few times - so I thought it was about time that I started to look into what all the fuss is really about… I’ll attempt to figure out why I tell my sister not to drink it, my mom refuses to buy it and why I was disgusted to see tons upon tons of cans of “coke zero” up on my landlord’s counter.
Diet Coke in particular started distribution in the states in 1982… Now… there is New Coke, Caffeine free, C2, Coca-Cola Zero, Coca-Cola Cherry (also in Diet), Coca/Diet - Coke with Lemon, Lime, Vanilla, Cherry Vanilla or Raspberry, Coca-Cola Blak and TaB.
If you’ve never heard of the web-site Killer Coke, I suggest you check it out. It looks at the coke factories world wide and exposes some of the unfair treatment of workers, deaths and other injustices that surround the distribution and production of coke. Workers were apparently killed by “thugs” out side of their factories and it also tracks all the negative news reports put out by the media over 2006… there is a TON of it.
In short here are some of the iffy things about coke. …It’s flat out not healthy. If you’re drinking coke excessively, or giving your child coke as a substitute for something healthy you’re not getting proper nutrients. Kids, for example, will drink coke instead of milk, which will contribute to a higher change of osteoporosis. (Don’t tell me that kids don’t drink THAT much coke - because they do.) Regular soft drink consumers get a lower intake of not only calcium but also magnesium, ascorbic acid, riboflavin and vitamin A. When I vocalized my disgust for the excessive amounts of coke upstairs my roommate made a very valid point “it’s called an addiction…” caffeine my friends. physical dependency.
Why care about not getting enough of that schtuff? …Well, here is what I know - and I’m not even a nutritionist…
Calcium: calcium deficiencies will affect bone and tooth formation. Long term deficiency will lead to osteoporosis deteriorating your bones and increasing the risks of breaks and fractures.
Magnesium: needed for over 300 different bio-chem reactions in your body. It maintains normal muscle and nerve functions, keeps bones strong, steadies heart rhythms and is essential to a healthy immune system. It regulates blood sugar and helps keep blood at a normal pressure. It fights against and helps prevent hypertension, cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
Ascorbic Acid - Vitamin C: seriously. ya’ll should know why vitamin c is important… Its important for the effective absorption of iron, structural component of blood vessels, tendons, ligaments and bones, it helps heal wounds and keeps you good and healthy from colds and other such annoy crap-o-la.
Riboflavin (B2): it is required for …a lot of cellular processes, keeps energy metabolism high and is required for the metabolism of fats, crabs and proteins, a deficiency will result in cracked lips, inflamed mouth and tongue, mouth ulcers and sore throats.
Vitamin A: aka - THE most important vitamin a woman should take - reduces the risk of breast cancer, helps with PMS and lowers bloating. So if you have a shitty time of the month with your period -take vitamin A, yo. Don’t give in to all that midol crap.
So those are just some of the things that excessive cola drinkers are shown to be missing out on. But getting lots of phosphoric acid, high fructose corn syrup, pesticides in the bottles and benzene! Woo! What does that mean? Well, again osteoporosis, the sugar level has DIRECT links with obesity and diabetes, cancers and a breakdown of the immune system. In any given bottle of coke you’ll be likely to find such toxins as lindane, DDT, malathion and chlorpyrifos. This originally concerned the public enough that the sales of coke went down by 15% in 2002, and in Kerala (the Indian success story) Coke was banned all together. If you think you’re skipping out on that sugar by drinking the diet versions - you’re getting saccharine instead - aka introducing cancer to your bladder.
Personally, I’d be most worried about the aspartame. It is linked to brain tumors, blindness, breast cancer, insomnia, chronic pains…and breaks down into formaldehyde. Sick, yo. Watch this movie. Seriously.
So these are the health risks - but here is what disgusts me even more; people who stick coke bottles in their 4 year old’s mouth, schools who plaster their hall ways with coke vending machines, parents who keep bottles upon bottles of this liquid candy stocked up in their closet… The fact of the matter is we are living in a country that has the easiest access to fresh drinking water - and what do we do instead? We start sucking back a liquid that kills workers, kills our bodies and contributes to the consumeristic economy.
Think about it…
Mild dehydration will slow down your metabolism by as much as 3%, and over 75% of Americans don’t drink enough water in a day and this is the number one cause for daily fatigue. A single class of water will shut down midnight hunger pangs for over 90% of dieter. A drop of 2% in body water will screw over your short term memory, give you trouble with mathematics and slightly blur your eye sight at times. Simply drinking 5 glasses of water a day - which we ALL have readily at our disposal - will decrease the risk of colon cancer by 45%, breast cancer by 79% and bladder cancer by nearly 50%.
In contrast.…
That myth that you can put a penny in coke and it will disintegrate? True. Same for nails and a t-bone steak. Some states even carry coke in trucks to remove blood stains off of highways. Need to clean your toilet? The acid in coke will remove the stains. It can be used to loosen a rusty bolt, clean corrosion, and removes grease from clothing….
…Right, so instead of drinking a resource that countries would literally kill for… that people die due to a lack of… we drink a liquid that literally rots our insides. Makes real sense. Really.
Sarah - please, drink water instead of diet coke.
There’s no need to hate it or anything, just drink it in moderation (like anybody should do with anything).
i dont beleave a soda like coke could kill a person that is really hard to beleave. i mean come on do you really think some thing like a coke could kill a person its not right even if u do drink alot of coke it wont be able to kill a person yet alone effect there bones so think about it just becouse you drink or eat alot of something thats bad for you are you going to die
