About This Blog

Hi. Welcome to my blog! I originally designed this blog to share my experiences in the world of network marketing. If you look back over the posts, you'll see it has evolved over time. I explain the evolution of my blog in the post on niche widening. I decided to leave the old posts so that readers could get a sense of what I was describing in that post. I hope you enjoy my entries. Comments are always welcome, as are e-mails to theameriskeptic@gmail.com.

Friday, June 25, 2010

The Dangers of Coke (and Diet Coke)



Have you ever wondered what happens in your body when you drink a Coke, or a Diet Coke? This is something that most people probably don't spend much time thinking about. But take a minute to think about it now. Do you love Coke? Do you drink it daily? Did you know that the word "Coke" is the second most recognized word in the WORLD, right behind "ok?" Coke is popular everywhere, but it is consumed most frequently by Americans. Read on to learn what happens in your body when you drink this popular beverage and it's skinnier counterpart, Diet Coke, and what you can do to help cut out the Coke.

Coke is loaded with sugar, caffiene, food coloring, and lots of chemicals. There's more sugar in coke than you can naturally disolve in water because of the way it is processed, and the chemical composition. Don't believe me? Try mixing 10 teaspoons of sugar into 8 ounces of water and see what happens. You'll have a pile of undisolved sugar sitting on the bottom of your glass.

The ingredients in Coke are combined in such a way that your body doesn't realize how much sugar it's drinking in the moment. Shortly after drinking your Coke, your blood sugar increases, which makes you feel high, and also releases insulin. This helps your body turn all of that extra sugar into fat. Meanwhile, the caffeine is hitting your system and adding to your high. Unfortunately, once the caffeine and sugar are gone, you crash--feeling worse than before you started. Coke also works to deprive your body of nutrients. To learn more about what happens in your body when you drink a Coke, click here.

Think Diet Coke is better? Think again...

Growing up, I never drank much soda. We didn't keep it in our house, my parents rarely drank it. Soda was a special treat for special occasions. I managed to keep my soda intake to a minumum until graduate school. Then everything changed. I shared an office with friends who were addicted to Diet Coke. We worked long hours. Diet soda was always in supply, and before long I always had a Diet something in my hand. It got to the point where the sound of a Coke opening made me feel relaxed and happy. I had myself convinced that drinking that much Diet Coke wasn't that unhealthy--after all, there's no calories--so it's kind of like drinking water, only it tastes better, right?

WRONG!

Unfortunately, the sugar content is only part of the reason Coke is unhealthy. The rest of the factors are the same for both Coke and Diet Coke. Plus, Diet Coke is made with artificial sweeteners (usually Aspartame, although there's a Splenda version available now too), which carry their own set of potential health problems. For more about the effect of Diet Coke on your body, click here.

So what can you do if you're addicted to Coke like I was? I tried several times to cut out the Diet Coke with varying success. Usually, I wound up feeling sluggish and having a headache. If you go cold-turkey on Coke and all caffeine-containing beverages, and you're used to drinking several a day, you are likely to have a similar result. I had cut back to one a day, but still felt sluggish. It wasn't until I started taking vitamins that I was able to break the habit. For me, it was the combination of AmeriSciences Sleep, Energy, and Head Start that did the trick. Not only did I not feel sluggish and headachy, I had more energy than I had had in a long time. Energy that lasted throughout the day, with no crash. And I woke up feeling more refreshed. One of the keys is a healthy dose of B Vitamins. To find out how you can get free samples of these products and 10% off your first order, e-mail me at theameriskeptic@gmail.com.

No comments:

Post a Comment