Coca-Cola is undeniably delicious, and we can easily slurp down a can in 15 to 30 minutes — maybe even 30 seconds (if you’re especially thirsty).
Basically it’s fun to get the Coke in your body, but have you ever wondered what it does once it’s in there?
The label on a 12-ounce can reads that it has 39 grams of sugar, 45 milligrams of sodium, with a little phosphoric acid, caffeine, and a few hard-to-pronounce ingredients thrown into the mix.
These ingredients may be hard to say, but they all translate into one thing: your taste buds may like coke, but the rest of your body does not.
In fact, Wade Meredith at Blisstree decided to record exactly what happens to your body the hour after you drink a can of Coke. His findings are pretty shocking, and scientifically accurate, being that U.K. pharmacist Niraj Naik, also known as the Renegade Pharmacist, has backed up his results.
One of these results even likens the results of coke to a hardcore, addictive, and illegal drug.
Here is a breakdown of what Wade discovered happens to your body the hour after he drink coke.
I suggest you read it before you decide to pop the tab your next can of Coca-Cola…
(To accompany the explanation of what happens to your body as your drink a coke, we've included some vintage photos of how a coke used to make it from the factory into your hands!)
Coke 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,” wrote Wade.
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. (And 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 liver 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, by the way."
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. (It makes you have 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, electrolytes, and water."
60 minutes
"As the rave inside you dies down, you’ll start to have a sugar crash. You may become irritable and/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 hydrating your system, or building strong bones and teeth. This will all be followed by a caffeine crash in the next few hours. (As little as two if you’re a smoker.)"
"… Coke itself isn’t the enemy here. It’s the dynamic combo of massive sugar doses combined with caffeine and phosphoric acid, which are found in almost all sodas.
Moderation, people!"
