The Evils Of Drinking Cola

We already know it’s bad for us, but can cola kill?

Cola is a beverage many of us have been familiar with since we were young. Cola manufacturers have been quenching our thirsts and filling our minds with there catchy advertising slogans for decades. Billions of cans of cola are sold around the globe each year, with cola flowing like water in many industrialized countries. To that end, it’s not a real wonder that cola can effectively kill you if drunk in excessively large amounts, especially since a new medical study has laid out just how bad cola can be, for people who can’t get enough of it. One assumes at this point that the prudent thing to do would be to simply drink less cola, at least until the next time one is bombarded by cola advertising.

Quenching Details

Published in the June issue of the International Journal of Clinical Practice is a new study out of the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Ioannina, Greece. Dr. Moses Elisaf and his fellow researchers reviewed the types of symptoms that could occur in people who drank anywhere from two litres to nine litres of cola per day, going over the case studies of patients who qualified. In one such study, a 44-year-old ostrich farmer was afflicted by lung paralysis as well as muscle weakness to the point of having trouble standing up.
This was due to the four litres of cola he had been drinking every day for the past three years, up to 10 litres sometimes just to quench his thirst while out hunting.

Another case study highlighted a 51-year-old man with chronic pulmonary disease, hypertension, muscle weakness and loose bowel issues several times a day. Doctors couldn’t figure out why he was experiencing his symptoms until they found out the man continuously sipped up to four litres of cola every day.

Stomach Churning Issues

Regardless of its branding, cola drinks have always been taken for granted as one of the most abundant sources of sugary, teeth-rotting beverages found on earth. Now the University of Ioannina study suggests that excessive over consumption of cola drinks can cause not only tooth decay, but also diabetes, cardiovascular disease, bone demineralization and hypokalemia, which is low blood potassium levels caused by extreme cola over consumption. Hypokalemia is the main cause behind the muscle problems experienced by people who drink too much cola. Muscle weakness can be anywhere from mild to paralysis.

More To Avoid

This study into the dangers of cola over consumption singled out the three most common ingredients responsible for most of the health issues related to drinking cola, which, unsurprisingly, were glucose, fructose and caffeine. Seeing as how health professionals are always advising people to reduce their intake of those three anyhow, lowering cola intake could be beneficial in the long run, but how does one avoid the stormy seas of cola?

Moderation, Moderation, Moderation!

Even though the University of Ioannina study focused on extreme cases of cola over consumption, the issue is largely ignored everywhere else. Restaurants and stores continue to sell cola beyond the average 355 ml can in different forms of packaging that encourage ove rconsumption. The well-known plastic 2 litre cola bottles, as well as 7-11’s Big Gulp cup size are just two examples that can easily lure the average person into drinking too much cola.

Just Say No!

The majority of convenience stores, restaurants and fast food joints all serve cola in one incarnation or another, and one should be wary. In restaurants, it’s simple to just order a different drink. In fast food chains cola is the standard they expect you to drink unless you specifically order something else. Don’t forget that used to be a medium-sized drink container is now the small-sized container in Wendy’s chain restaurants. In stores, it’s simple to walk past the rows of aluminum cans in favour of a healthier drink, provided you can avoid any other processed beverage that doesn’t contain glucose, fructose or caffeine.

Cutting Back

Committing to reducing your intake of cola, imitation colas and zero-calorie colas can be challenging, especially if you’re used to drinking more than one per day. Drinking less cola would certainly go a ways towards improving your overall health, but if and when you do toss back that coke, make sure you enjoy it!

German states ban Red Bull after discovery of cocaine in the energy drink

From a Time Magazine article:

About a year ago, the makers of Red Bull, the famous caffeine-loaded energy drink, decided to come out with a soda, unsurprisingly named Red Bull Cola. The shared name implied the same big kick. But could the cola's boost - supposedly "100% natural" - come from something else? Officials in Germany worry that they've found the answer - cocaine. And now they have prohibited the soda's sale in six states across the country and may recommend a nation-wide ban.

"The [Health Institute in the state of North Rhine Westphalia] examined Red Bull Cola in an elaborate chemical process and found traces of cocaine," Bernhard Kuehnle, head of the food safety department at Germany's federal ministry for consumer protection, told the German press on Sunday. According to this analysis, the 0.13 micrograms of cocaine per can of the drink does not pose a serious health threat - you'd have to drink 12,000 liters of Red Bull Cola for negative affects to be felt - but it was enough to cause concern. Kuehnle's agency is due to give its final verdict on Wednesday when experts publish their report. (See pictures of America's cannabis culture.)

Red Bull has always been upfront about the recipe for its new cola. Its website boasts colorful pictures of coca, cardamom and Kola nuts, along with other key "natural" ingredients. The company insists, however, that coca leaves are used as a flavoring agent only after removing the illegal cocaine alkaloid. "De-cocainized" extract of coca leaf is used worldwide in foods as a natural flavoring," said a Red Bull spokesman in response to the German government's announcement. Though the cocaine alkaloid is one of 10 alkaloids in coca leaves and represents only 0.8% of the chemical make-up of the plant, it's removal is mandated by international anti-narcotics agencies when used outside the Andean region. (Check out this story on how Bolivia is preaching the virtues of coca culture.)

Meanwhile, in Bolivia, halfway around the world and smack in the middle of the Andes, the controversy is causing chuckles. Coca is a fundamental part of Andean culture and for years, Bolivians have tried to get the world to understand that the leaf is not a drug if it's not put through the extensive chemical process that yields cocaine. Left-wing President Evo Morales, a coca-grower himself, has made coca validation a personal quest, chewing leaves in front of world leaders and press cameras during his travels. "Let's say [Red Bull Cola] doesn't take out the cocaine alkaloid. Have any of those millions of people across the world who have drunk that soda ever gotten sick or felt drugged?," asks Dionicio Nunez, a coca-growers' leader from the Yungas region. "We've always known that coca isn't harmful. Now maybe others will realize it too."

In Germany, the Red Bull spokesman insisted that his company's product, along with others containing the coca leaf extract are considered safe in Europe and the U.S. And already, some experts have come to Red Bull's defense. "There is no scientific basis for this ban on Red Bull Cola because the levels of cocaine found are so small," Fritz Soergel, the head of the Institute for Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Research in the city of Nuremberg. "And it's not even cocaine itself. According to the tests we carried out, it's a non-active degradation product with no effect on the body. If you start examining lots of other drinks and food so carefully, you'd find a lot of surprising things," he says. (Read about the ANTI-Red Bull: a drink that can calm you down.)

Coca leaves, of course, have a long record in modern soda pop history. Most prominently, there was Coca-Cola whose original 19th century formula used unaltered coca leaves. In the early 1900s the company said it would only use "spent," or de-cocainized leaves though the company refuses to confirm whether leaves in any form are still used.

But the problem is when it comes to coca and cocaine, it's not just a health concern, but a legal one. Since 1961, trade of coca outside the Andean region - where people have chewed or brewed coca in tea to stave off hunger and exhaustion for centuries - has been prohibited unless, the cocaine alkaloid is removed. Few companies in the world have authorization to trade in the leaf and most are pharmaceutical companies that perform this de-cocainizing process. The most prominent is New Jersey-based Stepan Chemical Company which has been reported to supply Coca-Cola with its narcotic-free derivative.

But no one knows where Red Bull Cola's coca leaves come from or where they are processed. Red Bull did not respond to immediate requests for comment and Rauch Trading AG, the Austria-based food company that actually manufactures Red Bull Cola was quick to say that they are not allowed to speak about the product.Meanwhile, Bolivia, which has lots of coca leaves to sell, is getting a kick out of the fact Red Bull Cola admits to using coca in any form (since Coca-Cola evades the question). Ironically, the drink is not actually available yet in Bolivia. But, the locals say, this is a great opportunity to show that coca isn't harmful - with or without the cocaine alkaloid.

Thoughts? Hello? Still Here? or are you off to the store to get your Red Bull??