I have a beautiful dear friend who I met up with recently. We sat at a cafe and she ordered a bottle of coke zero, then told me "its my 3rd one today, I used to be addicted to normal coke (coca cola), but I knew it was bad for me so now I have this instead." I smiled and nodded. I couldn't tell her that this fizzy browny blackish liquid was worse for her than regular coke. Or that she was making her health worse with every mouthful. Even if I did say something, would she have believed me, or just taken it as the strange ramblings of a Naturopath?
This post is for her and anyone else who drinks that swill.
Its like an alternative universe clip. Coca Cola wants to help fight the obesity epidemic. Hilarity ensues. Is this a joke? You want to help the community? SHUT. DOWN.
They are very proud of their smaller can sizes and the 'low kilojoule alternative' drink range available. Doesn't anyone wonder what they put in those drinks? Time for me to break it down for you.
Coke Analysis
Ingredients in regular coke: Carbonated purified water, cane sugar, colour (caramel 150d), food acid 338, flavour, caffeine.Ingredients in diet coke: Carbonated purified water, flavour, colour (caramel 150d), food acid (338, 330), sweeteners (951,950), preservative 211, caffeine
Ingredients in coke zero: Carbonated purified water, colour (caramel 150d), food acid (338, 331), flavour, sweeteners (951,950), preservative 211, caffeine
Lets go through all these ingredients, shall we?
Carbonated purified water
The backbone of all fizzy drinks. Research on this shows that excess carbonated drink consumption can lead to increase bone fracture risk and erode tooth enamel. I believe the bone fracture component may be more to do with the phosphoric acid content (read below) and the tooth enamel claims show evidence on both sides of the fence for this, with some people stating that it erodes teeth as much as pure orange juice.
If you need a fizzy drink, plain carbonated water - soda water - is not a bad option. Its when other nasties get added it becomes a problem.
Cane sugar
This title speaks for itself - its sugar. Unrefined sugar cane offers a host of essential nutrients and minerals that refined and white sugars cannot. It contains magnesium, phosphorus, calcium, potassium and iron. The process of refining introduces many harmful ingredients to sugar cane, such as sulfur dioxide and phosphoric acid. Of course there is no way to know which version of sugar Coca Cola uses, but I'm thinking refined is on the menu. Good times.Caramel Colour
“Caramel colour is made by a process involving the heating of corn or cane sugar and other carbohydrates to achieve the desired colour.” — Coca-Cola Co.
This sounds lovely, doesn't it? Everyone loves caramel! In actual fact the colour caramel is a chemical shitstorm nightmare.
Lets start with the heating of corn - lets translate this to high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). HFCS is a highly processed substance, which with moderate consumption is linked to heart disease, obesity, fatty liver disease, liver failure, dementia and cancer. This is because our bodies cannot process it and break it down like it can regular sugar. Unfortunately it is a cheap and easy thing to manufacture so it can be found in a lot of foods.
In 2011 the International Agency for Research on Cancer concluded that caramel colouring is possibly carcinogenic to humans. And while caramel coloring is in a host of products (like baked goods and soy sauces), we consume higher amounts of coke and pepsi daily than these other products.
Research published by the US federal government’s National Toxicology Program showed that long-term exposure to 4-methylimidazole—a contaminant in the caramel coloring—lead to an increase in lung cancer in male and female mice. And these findings resulted in the addition of 4-MEI to California’s Proposition 65 list of carcinogens.
Food acid 338 - Phosphoric acid
Phosphoric acid is
used in food, detergents, pharmaceuticals and metal treatment (e.g. pickling,
cleaning, rust-proofing, polishing). Car bodies and electrical appliances are
all protected against rust and blistering by the presence of a phosphatised
undercoat. Phosphoric acid is used in the production of activated carbon, and
may be used in soft drinks to give a sour taste.
This stuff is bad news for your bones. The way the kidneys excrete it is
by bonding it with calcium taken from the bones, which can then leave the bones
porous and brittle, and increase the risk of osteoporosis. A study, published in the
Archives of Paediatric and Adolescent Medicine in 2000, showed that athletic
teenage girls who consume cola drinks have been found to have five times the
risk of bone fractures of those athletic girls who do not consume cola drinks.
Phosphoric acid has also been known to cause kidney stones and increasing your risk two-fold to develop kidney disease.
Flavour
Well this is descriptive, isn't it? Anything can be flavour. Vomit is a flavour. This "ingredient" is so unclear on what it contains, its hard to tell if its is natural, naturally derived (chemical shitstorm made to sound natural) or artificial.
Caffeine
I did a blog on caffeine facts, click here if you want to read more.
Sweetener 951 - Aspartame
“Aspartame is a low-calorie sweetener made primarily of two amino acids: aspartic acid and phenylalanine. Aspartame has been shown to be safe for everyone, including children and pregnant women. When used in foods and beverages a warning on the labels is provided to people who can’t metabolize aspartame.” — Coca-Cola Co.
Aspartame is found in most "diet" sugar free alternative drinks. A review in 2002, says that sweetener 951 accounts for over 75% of adverse reactions to food additives reported to the FDA ( US Food and Drug Administration ). The potential health effects include cancer, asthma, MS like symptoms, headache, hyperactivity, fatigue,anxiety, dizziness, migraine, memory loss, depression, insomnia, irritability, impotence, epilepsy, blindness, diabetes, neuralgia, seizures, plus many others. More recently, aspartame has been shown to cause weight gain (so the "diet" drink really helps </sarcasm>) and worsen insulin sensitivity.
What does aspartame do in the body to make it so bad?
I found this summary at http://www.naturodoc.com/library/nutrition/aspartame.htm which I think is quite good.
First,
aspartame releases aspartate during digestion. Aspartate is a
neurotransmitter used by the neurons in the brain. It is a type of
excitatory amino acid. Excitatory amino acids are normal and necessary
brain chemicals, and as such, they are allowed to cross the blood-brain
barrier. Aspartate, the principal chemical component of aspartame, is a
neurotransmitter and a type of excitatory amino acid. It is a natural and
necessary body chemical. Neurotransmitters cross the blood-brain barrier.
The
blood-brain barrier is designed to protect the brain from the invasion of
harmful chemicals. When normal neurotransmitters such as aspartate and
glutamate cross this barrier in excess, they will cause poisoning and lead to
the death of the nerve cells within the brain and spinal cord. The
blood-brain barrier cannot discern the amount that is needed from too
much. So these neurotransmitters can build up undetected until a toxic
level is reached. This accumulation seems to be particularly insidious in
its effect on the developing brains and nervous systems of children.
"The
nervous system is designed to control the concentration of excitatory amino
acids in the fluid surrounding the neurons, the extracellular space. The
main ones concerning us are glutamate and aspartate. The nervous system
does this by pumping the excess back into glial cells which surround the
neurons and supply them with energy. While this pumping system is very
efficient, it uses enormous amounts of ATP, a high-energy compound that all
cells in the body use for energy.
"If
energy production is reduced in the brain, the protective pumps begin to fail
and glutamate begins to accumulate in the space around the neuron, including
the area of the synapse. If the energy is not restored the neurons will
burn up; they are literally excited to death."
For those who found this explanation a bit technical, my uber quick summary is that aspartame gets into the brain and attacks it just like the rebels attacking the Death Star in Return of the Jedi. And we all know what happens then, right?
 |
| Yep. This is what happens in your brain when you have Aspartame. But you are the Empire, not the rebels. |
Reading
labels on food items is important but not sufficient. Labeling
regulations make it
possible to conceal from the public information needed to make good decisions
about diet. For example, there are some circumstances in which a
substance like aspartame or glutamate does not have to be shown on the
label. Often it is included under another term like "enhanced
flavors or spices." The public needs to be aware of these problems
and demand more information.
So how come something so horrible for health is allowed to still be used in food? GOOD QUESTION! I wish I had an answer for you!
Sweetener 950 - Acesulphame Potassium (Acesulphame K)
This sweetener has been around since the late 80s, and the main problems surrounding acesulfame K are based on the improper testing and lack of long-term studies for its use safe use - I guess the general public are the lab rats here?
Acesulfame K contains the
carcinogen methylene chloride. Long-term exposure to methylene chloride can
cause headaches, depression, nausea, mental confusion, liver effects, kidney effects, visual disturbances, and
cancer in humans. While 950 has not got as much press as aspartame, I think it is something to look out for and avoid so you aren't another lab rat.
Preservative 211 - Sodium Benzoate
Ahh, my old friend 211. I have mention this one in a few blogs. Pick up a fizzy drink, you are likely to see this as one of the ingredients. This happy little guy has the ability to switch off vital parts of DNA and when consumed with vitamin C, becomes carcinogenic. I find it interesting that regular coke doesn't need this preservative - I guess there is enough other fun stuff in it to keep it preserved.
And if this hasn't turned you off drinking Coke or other colas...
Heres a few coke facts that made the rounds a few years ago..
- In many US states the highway patrol carries two gallons of Coke in the trunk to remove blood from the highway after a car accident.
- You can put a T-bone steak in a bowl of Coke and it will be gone in two days.
- To clean a toilet: Pour a can of Coca-Cola into the toilet bowl and let the "real thing" sit for one hour, then flush clean. The citric acid in Coke removes stains from vitreous china.
- To remove rust spots from chrome car bumpers: Rub the bumper with a rumpled-up piece of aluminum foil dipped in Coca-Cola.
- To clean corrosion from car battery terminals: Pour a can of Coca-Cola over the terminals to bubble away the corrosion.
- To loosen a rusted bolt: Applying a cloth soaked in Coca-Cola to the rusted bolt for several minutes.
- To bake a moist ham: Empty a can of Coca-Cola into the baking pan, wrap the ham in aluminum foil, and bake. Thirty minutes before the ham is finished, remove the foil, allowing the drippings to mix with the Coke for a sumptuous brown gravy.
- To remove grease from clothes: Empty a can of Coke into a load of greasy clothes, add detergent, and run through a regular cycle. The Coca-Cola will help loosen grease stains.
- Coke will also clean road haze from your windshield.
- To carry Coca-Cola syrup (the concentrate) the commercial truck must use the "Hazardous Material" place cards reserved for highly corrosive materials.
- The distributors of Coke have been using it to clean the engines of their trucks for about 20 years!
Plus a picture I found a few days ago:
