Coca Cola Unravelled

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.

I have done a few posts on my Facebook page recently in regards to the new ad campaign by coke - really, its ridiculous. Heres the ad:

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:

Has this blog opened your eyes? I hope so :)

Caffeine Facts!

How many of us start our day with a cup of coffee or tea, or we hear that person in the office say “I just don’t function until I have my morning coffee”? Time to learn more about that required caffeine hit!

a little bit about caffeine...

Caffeine is a naturally occurring chemical substance which affects our central nervous system by temporarily warding off drowsiness and makes us alert. I think this comic by The Oatmeal Comics sums up what caffeine does in our bodies really well:

Caffeine is naturally found in coffee, black tea, green tea, chocolate, yerba mate, guarana berries and foods derived from the kola nut (such as cola). It is added to energy drinks to help give the buzz. The effect usually occurs within an hour of consumption and a moderate dose wears off in about 5 hours.

Benefits of Caffeine

Caffeine is not only a stimulant, it also has other effects in the body. Do you find that soon after your caffeine hit you need to go to the toilet? Its not a coincidence. Caffeine is a natual diuretic, meaning your urinary output is increased. Caffeine also is a mild laxative, so can be beneficial to those with constipation. Caffeine is also a bronchodilator – it dilates the bronchi and bronchioles, thereby increasing the airflow to the lungs. If someone is suffering from asthma, or difficulty breathing. Be a MacGuyver and give them a cup of strong coffee! (Note, ask them if they have any caffeine sensitivities first!)

Health risks of Caffeine

Caffeine can disrupt natural sleep patterns, especially if its consumed in the evening. While not all people are affected by this, in some in can cause insomnia. Caffeine affects liver detoxification by speeding up your 1^st liver conveyor belt (don’t know what I’m talking about? Read this blog entry.). This can have detrimental toxic effects.

Once people get used to having coffee regularly, they can develop a dependency for it, which can lead to symptoms including headaches, irritability, nervousness, restlessness, heart palpitations after use. When your body consumes high levels, you may get anxiety and coffee jitters from over excitation of your nerves.

If you want to withdrawal from caffeine, you may experience headaches, irritability, nervousness, joint stiffness, anxiousness which begin to show in the 1^st 12 to 24 hours, peaks at 48 hours, then continues for 2-9 days.

Like anything in life, moderation is the key. A coffee or green tea now and then should cause no major disruptions to your health (unless you fit into the categories below), but if you live off the energy drinks, then be prepared to be at risk. I went to uni with a guy who used to drink Red Eye energy drinks all the time and one day I saw him drinking Red Bull Essence. He was sweating in the middle of Winter. That was 10 years ago. I would love to know how he is today!

Avoid if...

Those with heart conditions, high blood pressure, insomnia, peptic ulcers or a sensitivity to caffeine should avoid caffeine products. Some religions, including Seventh Day Adventists, Christian Scientists and Gaudiya Vaishnavas refrain from caffeine.

How much caffeine is in things?

This table shows caffeine amounts in mg, based on the USDA Nutrient Database.

Product	Serving size	Caffeine per serving (mg)
Caffeine tablet (extra-strength)	1 tablet	200
Caffeine tablet (regular-strength)	1 tablet	100
Coca-Cola Classic	355 mL	34
Coffee, decaffeinated	207 mL	5–15
Coffee, espresso	44–60 mL	100
Coffee, instant	1 tsp	31
Drip coffee	207 mL	115–175
Guaraná Antarctica	350 mL	30
Guayakí yerba mate(loose leaf)	6 g	85
Hershey's Milk Chocolate(11% cacao content)	1 bar	10
Hershey's Special Dark(45% cacao content)	1 bar	31
Jolt Cola	695 mL	280
Mountain Dew	355 mL	54
Percolated coffee	207 mL	80–135
Red Bull	250 mL	80
Tea – black, green, and other types, – steeped for 3 min	177 mL	22-74

Caffeine amounts vary for different foods, so these figures are not finite. Tea and coffee caffeine amounts can vary based upon growing conditions. If you are concerned, check the labels!

So how much is too much to consume each day? It varies from person to person, but most places I researched said the ballpark guideline is no more than 600mg daily to avoid major health risks.

Guidelines state that pregnant and breastfeeding women should have no more than 200mg daily, as higher doses are connected with low birth weights and even miscarriage. Anything you ingest also affects your baby – caffeine can affect your babies heart rate (if pregnant) and can be passed through breast milk (when lactating). There are great caffeine-free beverages available if you wish to avoid coffee and black tea altogether – see below for more details.

A fatal dose of caffeine is 170mg/kg, which is like consuming 80 to 100 cups of coffee at once. Perhaps you don’t need a caffeine hit THAT much!

Decaffeinated coffee?

Many times have I gone into a cafe and the person in front of me has asked for a skinny decaff, or I go into the supermarket and there are jars of decaffeinated coffee sitting on the shelf next to the instant. Coffee naturally contains caffeine, so how do they get the caffeine out of it??

After doing some research, I found there are several methods on decaffeination:

• Swiss Water and French Water extraction: uses no chemical solvents. This involves soaking the beans in hot water, then spraying the beans with the water to reduce flavour-loss compromisation.
• PROS: No harmful chemicals used in process.
• CONS: Flavour of beans may be lost.
• Solvent extraction: uses methylene chloride, ethyl acetate, ethyl alcohol, acetone and ethyl ether to extract the caffeine. This may done directly after the water extraction methods, or involves direct solvent extraction.
• PROS: Full-flavour of beans is maintained.
• CONS: Harmful chemicals are used in this process. Methylene chloride has been found not to be carcinogenic to humans, but can deplete the ozone layer.
• Super critical carbon dioxide extraction: high-pressure carbon dioxide is transformed into a dense liquid, in which the beans are treated with to extract the caffeine.
• PROS: This does not involve dangerous chemicals and there is no flavour lost in this process.
• CONS: Found to be very capital intensive
• Microbial decaffeination: Bacteria is sprayed onto coffee plants and is capable of degrading caffeine
• PROS: No caffeine processes warranted, flavour of beans remains
• CONS: Enzymes in bacteria to degrade caffeine are not stable
• Genetic modification: some companies have derived methods capable of producing decaffeinated plants.
• PROS: No caffeine processes warranted, flavour of beans remains
• CONS: The plants use caffeine as a defence against predators (thus making the plant weaker) and decaffeinated plant seeds may prevent growth of neighbouring plants. Unknown long term effects of genetically modified foods.

Annoyingly, when looking at jars of instant coffee, the caffeine extraction method is not listed. So how do we know what we’re consuming? We don’t. Companies that mass produce their decaffeinated coffee are more likely to use a cheaper method which may involve chemical extraction.

Caffeine free alternatives!

Yes, you can still go to the local cafe and not have caffeine! What are the options?

• Roasted dandelion root tea – tastes similar to coffee, but without the caffeine
• Herbal teas – chamomile, lemongrass & ginger, cinnamon, peppermint, licorice – all are popular teas found at  most cafes which are a sweet alternative!
• Rooibos tea is Afrikaan for “red bush” and is popular in South Africa. It is starting to get more fame here. Tastes similar to black tea and comes in many flavours.
• Fresh juices – a natural energy hit with a freshly made juice. Apple, orange, carrot, celery, ginger, beetroot, pineapple, mint, lemon, watermelon... the choice is yours on what you put in.

Don't take from this blog that I am anti-caffeine. Far from it! Like most people, I enjoy the aroma, taste and buzz from a good coffee. But like I said earlier, moderation is the key. Knowledge is powerful and this blog is about education, not reprimand. Be aware of what you are putting in your body and take care of it.

Another perk of a caffeine hit - amazing coffee art!

Comic is copyright to The Oatmeal Comics.