I have not been drinking cola lately, and when I'm craving a carbonated drink, I've found a plethora of spritzers in every flavor, as well as carbonated juices and other products that I really enjoy.
I saw a can of diet coke in my mother's refrigerator, and just seeing the can made me crave it (yeah, marketing doesn't work, right?!). I drank a few sips of it, and my stomach started hurting! Has this happened to you? I thought about all of the chemicals and acid in the soda, and the penny experiment came to mind (put a rusted penny in cola, and he harsh chemicals/acid from the cola remove rust and dirt...wonder what it does to our stomachs?!).
I found this new study in the June 2009 issue of the International Journal of Clinical Practice, saying that "doctors have found an increase in the number of patients suffering from muscle problems with excessive cola consumption."
Numerous health conditions have already been identified from drinking soft drinks, including, "bone demineralisation and the development of metabolic syndrome and diabetes", as well as increasing evidence that soda consumption can lead to, "hypokalaemia, in which the blood potassium levels fall, causing an adverse effect on vital muscle functions". They've also found that cola-related "irregular heartbeats, fatigue, loss of productivity and muscular symptoms that vary from mild weakness to profound paralysis" have been found in patients who consume excessive amounts of cola, which is not difficult to consume an excessive amount in our super-size-me environment.
The researchers concluded that, "“Cola drinks need to be added to the physician’s checklist of drugs and substances that can cause hypokalaemia”.