We all know fizzy drinks are not your body’s best friends, which is why reports claiming that Donald Trump drinks up to 12 diet cokes a day are pretty alarming. So how, exactly, could this habit be harming the President’s health?
Well, whilst opting for the low-calorie option is probably better than guzzling ‘full-fat’ alternatives, Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian – the dean of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University – says that although the “long-term health effects of low-calorie or artificial sweeteners are not really well-known,” the high levels of caffeine in these drinks alone does have the potential to cause a whole host of health problems, from jitters, insomnia, migraines, a faster heartbeat and more.
For more information, Cosmo UK decided to take a closer look at exactly how the fizzy stuff could be affecting your insides. They spoke to Pharmacist Niraj, who runs a blog called the Renegade Pharmacist, and shared this detailed infographic of apparently what happens after just one can of coke…
According to Niraj, the quantity of sugar found in a can of coke would usually make you vomit but phosphoric acid found in the drink “cuts the flavour” meaning you don’t hurl. Nice.
Here’s the lowdown on what coke does to your body:
In the first 10 minutes: 10 teaspoons of sugar hit your system. (100% of your recommended daily intake.) You don’t immediately vomit from the overwhelming sweetness because phosphoric acid cuts the flavor allowing you to keep it down.
20 minutes: Your blood sugar spikes, causing an insulin burst. Your liver responds to this by turning any sugar it can get its hands on into fat. (There’s plenty of that at this particular moment.)
40 minutes: Caffeine absorption is complete. Your pupils dilate, your blood pressure rises, as a response your livers dumps more sugar into your bloodstream. The adenosine receptors in your brain are now blocked preventing drowsiness.
45 minutes: Your body ups your dopamine production stimulating the pleasure centers of your brain. This is physically the same way heroin works.
60 minutes: The phosphoric acid binds calcium, magnesium and zinc in your lower intestine, providing a further boost in metabolism. This is compounded by high doses of sugar and artificial sweeteners also increasing the urinary excretion of calcium.
>60 Minutes: The caffeine’s diuretic properties come into play, meaning you’ll need to pee. It is now assured that you’ll evacuate the bonded calcium, magnesium and zinc that was headed to your bones as well as sodium, electrolyte and water.
>60 minutes: As the rave inside of you dies down you’ll start to have a sugar crash. You may become irritable or sluggish. You’ve also now, literally, pissed away all the water that was in the coke. But not before infusing it with valuable nutrients your body could have used for things like even having the ability to hydrate your system or build strong bones and teeth.
A can of coke here and there will certainly do you no harm and, if that’s what you enjoy, there’s no need to give up having the occasional fizzy drink, alongside a balanced diet. However, it might be best to swap to water, if you feel like you guzzle too much!
