Hearing a bottle pop and a fizzing sound on a sweltering day, what comes directly in to mind? For most, if not all people, these sounds lead to one thing — ice-cold Coca Cola. There’s nothing like gulping down a bottle of ice-cold Coke on a hot and sunny day.
But, did you know that this thirst quencher can actually bring more harm to your body than good? How?
It has been discovered that Coke’s acid levels are similar to the level of acidity found in batteries. Not only that, tests show that this product can also be used to eliminate dirt and grime on different surfaces. I’m sure you have probably seen a video of Coke being used as a toilet cleaner! Imagine ingesting batteries and a toilet cleaning substance. If those examples are not toxic enough I do not know what else is there.
Why is Coca Cola so popular and patronized by a lot of people despite it being harmful to the body? The fact is, Coke is cheaper to buy in some countries compared to drinking water. This is a sad truth, and Coca Cola has used this reason to leverage the sales of its products to consumers.
Coke and the Body: a Closer Look
Now that we are acquainted with the characteristics of Coke, let us take a closer look at what can happen to the body when we ingest it.
According to medical studies, Coke contributes to the body’s development of the following:
- Asthma
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
- Oesophagal cancer
- Extreme loss of calcium deposits
- Heart attack
- Stroke
Asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
The scientific journal Respirology once published that drinking of soft drinks has been linked to breathing and lung problems. Asthma and COPD are on top of this list.
Oesophagal Cancer
Cancer comes in different forms and Esophageal cancer has not been common until recent years. Consumption of soft drinks, like Coke, puts your body at risk of this disease by doing the following:
Soft drink consumption causes frequent acid reflux. Acid reflux happens when the stomach’s acid rises up past the oesophagal valve. Large consumption of soft drinks does this to the body, especially when it is in a horizontal state.
Soft drinks contain a lot of gas as it is carbonated. Hence, the body’s response as soon as it is ingested is to release the gas through burping. As the body releases the gas through the mouth, some of the stomach’s acid may accompany it. This acid enters and brings harm to the oesophagus.
The danger we need to know is this: the primary purpose of stomach acid is to dissolve tissues. The stomach itself has a protective lining that helps to contain the acid. However, the oesophagus does not have this lining. Just imagine what happens to your oesophagus when stomach acid touches its surface — yes, it gets pretty much damaged.
To add to that, soft drinks also damage the mechanisms of the cells in our body. This increases its risk to develop cancer.
Extreme Loss of Calcium Deposits
Calcium is a mineral that is essential to keep our body’s bones healthy. Unknown to a lot of people, soft drinks consumption affects the bones’ condition as well. Here is it how it happens.
Upon ingesting, the acid from the soft drinks actually irritates the stomach. The stomach then heals this irritation by getting calcium from the blood, which then works as an antacid. Calcium in the blood helps the body’s brain and muscles function normally. When the calcium in the blood gets severely low, it can bring grave effects to the body. In order to compensate for the loss, the blood stocks up its calcium deposits by taking from the bones, causing it to become weak and brittle.
Another way that soft drinks harm our bones is because of its Phosphoric acid content. Phosphoric acid has been found out to deplete the bones’ calcium deposits.
Heart Attack and Stroke
Medical studies discovered that people who consume more soft drinks tend to increase their risk of having a heart attack or stroke by 48%.
If Coke is harmful to the body, then what is it good for?
As mentioned earlier, Coke actually does a superb job as a cleanser due to its high acidity. Its PH level was found out to be as closer to that of battery acid rather than water. Battery acid’s PH level is 1, while water is at 7. Soft drink is at 2.5.
Although Coke is proven to be fatal to the body, it still can be used effectively for the following purposes:
- Cleansing of burnt pans, battery car terminals and engine, oil stains on the floor, tile grout, and toilet bowl. Allow pans, floor, tiles, and toilet to soak in Coke for a short amount of time before washing off with water. For car terminals and engines, a small amount of Coke poured over will do the trick.
- Exterminating slugs and snails. Say goodbye to snails and slugs as the acid in Coke kills them.
- Removal of grease and blood stains from clothes and other fabrics. Soak in Coke, then rinse with water.
- Removal of rust from metal surfaces, bolts, and swimming pool. Wipe rust off by using a fabric soaked in coke over metal surfaces. Pools can go from rusty to rust-free by using 2 litres of Coke.
- Removal of gum from the hair. Break free hair from sticky gum by dipping it into a bowl of Coke.
- Removal or fading of dyed hair. Pour Coke over hair to wash off dye.
- Removal of marker stains from carpet. Soak with Coke, scrub, soap, then wash off and your carpet is as good as new.
- Removal of paint from metal furniture. Grab a towel and wrap it around the painted surface.
- Removal of stains from china wares
- Shining of Chrome and old pennies. Soak pennies to dissolve tarnish and see them shine!
