Facts about the story "Still Drinking Coca Cola?"

Story:

Still Drinking Coca Cola?
Drinking coca cola will destroy your teeth and bones, and make you extremely fat and unhealthy. Do not drink cola. Do not drink any type of soda drinks. Diet cola is much worse. Never give any cola or other soda drinks to children. Drink water. Get your children used to drinking water. Water is the best drink.

Analysis:

There have been many health concerns and other claims regarding consuming Coca Cola and other carbonated drinks. It is important for the consumers to be aware of the actual facts and regulate their drinking habits.

It is a fact that most soft drinks contain small amounts of citric acid and phosphoric acid. The labels on some of these soft drinks do show these ingredients, but the point here is concentration of the acids used. Coca Cola contains less citric acid than that of orange juice, and the concentration of phosphoric acid is quite small – 0.2 to 0.3 percent of total formula, which cannot dissolve your teeth or bones overnight. It is a fact that this acidity in coca cola is strong enough to dissolve your teeth and bones – If they are exposed to it continuously, like a week or more, which is not likely. And fortunately, we have a digestive system that avoids the contact of these soft drinks with our bones. But yes, over time, regular consumption of these soft drinks can erode part of the outside enamel layer of our teeth. This is because of the citric acid in soft drinks which acts on hydroxyapatite, the key mineral in our tooth enamel. This is also the case with lemon juice, which is rich in citric acid. The video below shows the effect of coca cola on tooth, when it is soaked over a period of time.

But it is important to note that most of these acids are neutralized by the saliva in our mouth even before they reach the stomach. A study conducted by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition to test the effect of Phosphoric acid from carbonated beverages on bone health concluded that the net effect of carbonated beverage constituents like that of coca cola on calcium economy, i.e teeth and bone health, is negligible.

Small amounts of edible acids like these are present in many foods, including fruit juices and buttermilk. They are not acidic enough to harm the cells of our body. In fact, the gastric juice in our stomach is much more stronger than these acids used in soft drinks. Almost all carbonated soft drinks like soda contain carbonic acid, which is relatively weak to give rise to deadly effects on health. People have been drinking these for many years without any kind of deadly effects.

Other Claims:

There is a widespread message about an egg soaked in coca cola over a long period of time, which results in breaking down of its shell, therefore claiming it unhealthy. The above video shows the same. The breaking down of shell happens because of the presence of acids, but it is important to note that our body does not store coca cola or any other soft drink for such a long period of time to cause damage. Soaking an egg in vinegar also soften the the shell because the acid breaks down the protein structure, but yet vinegar is completely safe and is used as a food ingredient to enhance the flavor of many foods.

There have also been messages claiming coca cola can be used for cleaning purposes. Some of these claims are facts, which is attributed because of its Phosphoric acid content. Coca cola can be used for:

Cleaning a toilet.
Removing stains from vitreous china.
Removing rust on chrome with Coke and a ball of aluminum foil.
Cleaning corrosion of car battery terminals.
Loosening a rusted bolt by using a Coke-soaked cloth.
Removing a load of greasy laundry.

However, instead of coca cola, it is recommended to use products specifically designed for such cleaning purposes.

Also, there have been many circulating messages asking not to drink coca cola and have mentos, claiming that the mixture will lead to a chemical reaction that will produce cyanide and explode your stomach. This is not a fact again. You can read about it in detail here.

Coming to the importance of water over soft drinks, yes, it is a fact that water is a safe and most important nutrient for the human body. It moistens your tissues, regulates body temperature, protects body organs and tissues, helps in absorption of nutrients and minerals, lubricates our joints, and reduces the burden on Kidneys and Liver by flushing out the waste toxins. But this does not necessarily mean that you should avoid these soft drinks completely. You just have to avoid too much consumption of all soft drinks like coca cola, because it is unhealthy and can have some adverse effects in the long run, like too much of anything is not so good.