7 ms·

Too much cola zaps muscle power

15 points by rams 17y ago

mdasen 17y ago
there is very little doubt that tens of millions of people in industrialised countries drink at least 2-3 l of cola per day Wow. I was worried that 40oz might be rotting my body, but 2-3 liters is a lot of soda. Overuse of most products will have poor health effects.
- mrtron 17y ago
  1.2 Billion+ servings (8oz) of Coke are sold daily. That is a staggering volume, and apparently there is a very sizable population of individuals who are heavy users.
embeddedradical 17y ago
He's talking about approximately 5 cans/day (2 liters/day). Full text of article is here: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/121402091/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0 http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/121402091/abstrac... i have no access to the details (would have to pay, not a student with a univ license or anything...), so if someone does have access - it'd be nice to know at which amount in this study one transitions from 'moderate' to 'heavy.' 5 is apparently heavy, but where is 2 cans?
- mattyb 17y ago
  This linked worked for me: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/122384352/PDFSTART http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/12238435... Edit: not quite, that's just the IJCP summary. The actual study is behind a paywall here: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/122384349/PDFSTART http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/12238434...
- embeddedradical 17y ago
  correct study link: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/122384352/abstract http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/122384352/abstrac... there's nothing new here - no new research - it's just an editorial. don't drink too much soda - duh. i was hoping they figured could narrow down what moderate means.
pkrumins 17y ago
How brain damaged do you have to be to drink even a liter of cola per day?
- msluyter 17y ago
  I'm pretty brain damaged I guess. I must drink at least a 3 liter bottle of diet Coke a day, probably more. I've tried stopping at various times and it's not easy; it's a somewhat more serious addiction than a lot of people might believe, imho. The best luck I've had was with drinking coffee for the caffeine and club soda for the bubbly sensation (not simultaneously), and I managed to get away from it for a month, but I've since lapsed. Will try again upon reading this article.
  - berntb 17y ago
    I personally quit when I got too much teeth problems. You might want to quit carbonated and sugared drinks before you get that incentive...
    - azanar 17y ago
      Diet sodas contain aspartame, which does not promote tooth decay. A google search will produce a number of results, with varying degrees of motivation to market aspartame, all saying pretty much the same thing. For carbonated beverages in general, the concern appears to be more about the acids in the substance than in the carbonation, at least as my limited research suggests. Some of these same acids occur in a variety of other foods as well (citric acid in citrus fruits, for instance.) Others, like phosphoric acid, which has been correlated to decreased bone density in some studies, are only in certain soft drinks. Even then, the risk is not certain. Carbonation, on it's own produces very little relative tooth decay (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbonated_water#Health_effects http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbonated_water#Health_effects). There may be other concerns worth voicing, but these seem marginal.
      - Shooter 17y ago
        I wish there was a low/no calorie sweetener that was actually safe to use. Aspartame is a carcinogen, as are most other artificial sweeteners...even Splenda contains chlorine. Aspartame also gives me migraines, so I generally stick with cane sugar or honey. Stevia, xylitol, and erythyritol have many positives, but they're pricey and often have a bad aftertaste and/or laxative effect. I'm addicted to sweet tea, but I'm trying to reduce my sugar consumption. White and green tea and fruit spritzers are the only alternatives I've found that work for me...black tea just makes me crave sugar.
lsb 17y ago
Garbage in, garbage out. Why not just drink water, instead of Brawndo?
- jraines 17y ago
  Because Brawndo's got what programmers crave; it's got electrolytes! Hmm . . . maybe I just proved your point. All I've had to drink today is coffee and Red Bull.
  - silentbicycle 17y ago
    When I see cans of Java Monster (an energy drink), I picture some junior programmer on an all-nighter, all hopped up on caffeine and copy-and-pasting more code than most people produce in a year. "Oh no! Our codebase got hit by a Java Monster last night!"
RiderOfGiraffes 17y ago
See also http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=616639 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=616639 posted a week ago.
CalmQuiet 17y ago
same bbc story (maybe one is "printable" format) week ago: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=616639 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=616639 My same disappointment with the "journalistic" coverage applies now: They don't seem to differentiate colas from other sodas. A surprise to me, since I seem to recall hearing the high phosphorous content of colas can compete with some other mineral absorption (calcium, was it?) ...maybe compete with potassium? Personally, I've felt better about my physical stamina when I surrender to my crave for a "fizzling" drink by going to some diet lemon-lime (no caffeine or sugar) rather than a "cola" (whether caffeinated or sugared). YMMV
lionheart 17y ago
The problem seems to be the fructose, corn syrup, and caffeine, not the actual "soda." I drink a brand called Diet Rite which is made with Splenda and has no caffeine or sodium. And, actually, I honestly like the taste of it better than Coke or Pepsi. I think something like that is fine and if the other soda companies switched to healthier ingredients they would be fine too.
- lsb 17y ago
  If you take all out the HFCS and caffeine, you have (mostly) flavored seltzer.
- Shooter 17y ago
  My in-laws drink Diet Rite and Vernor's Ginger Ale. Unfortunately, Splenda is not as safe as they make it out to be...it has chlorine in it. Chlorine is a carcinogen.
azanar 17y ago
From the responses I've seen so far, my reflection is as follows: You can moderate your behavior to reasonably mitigate the possible risks of certain substances as much as you feel is prudent give the relative certainty and severity of the risks; Or you can develop an ill-informed, hyperbolic, almost knee-jerk reaction to the risks and cast aspersions toward the people who shrug and either suggest all things in moderation, or suggest the risks aren't that high. It is not obvious to me that these people are either irresponsible or brain-damaged. It is just as possible they performed a rational risk assessment and arrived at a different conclusion. It's something to be discussed, not to be worked up into a religious fervor over. For example, from the comments herein, diet colas do not promote tooth decay, nor do they promote diabetes. In fact, they are considered safe for diabetic people to drink. They contain no sucrose, nor any HFCS. They contain aspartame, an alternative sweetener with entirely different properties. They contain carbonated water, but as I cited elsewhere, carbonated water is not that conducive to tooth decay. The study isn't even conclusive yet, and the article hedges this by saying it can cause muscle weakness, not that it will. The article mentions two people, and declare that the results can be generalized, because the investigators believe they can. They present this along with some scary statistics to assure us that, if the results can be generalized, we're all in peril. 2-3 liters sounds like a lot, but it is only because we've assumed a priori the certain risk of ingesting these substances, and declare the only proper amount for assuring ones health is 0 liters per day, with no variance. If the average were half that, aspersions would likely still be cast. Can we please be more reasonable about this?

15 points by rams 17y ago

there is very little doubt that tens of millions of people in industrialised countries drink at least 2-3 l of cola per day Wow. I was worried that 40oz might be rotting my body, but 2-3 liters is a lot of soda. Overuse of most products will have poor health effects.

mrtron 17y ago
1.2 Billion+ servings (8oz) of Coke are sold daily. That is a staggering volume, and apparently there is a very sizable population of individuals who are heavy users.

embeddedradical 17y ago

He's talking about approximately 5 cans/day (2 liters/day). Full text of article is here: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/121402091/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0 http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/121402091/abstrac... i have no access to the details (would have to pay, not a student with a univ license or anything...), so if someone does have access - it'd be nice to know at which amount in this study one transitions from 'moderate' to 'heavy.' 5 is apparently heavy, but where is 2 cans?

mattyb 17y ago
This linked worked for me: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/122384352/PDFSTART http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/12238435... Edit: not quite, that's just the IJCP summary. The actual study is behind a paywall here: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/122384349/PDFSTART http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/12238434...
embeddedradical 17y ago
correct study link: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/122384352/abstract http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/122384352/abstrac... there's nothing new here - no new research - it's just an editorial. don't drink too much soda - duh. i was hoping they figured could narrow down what moderate means.

pkrumins 17y ago

How brain damaged do you have to be to drink even a liter of cola per day?

msluyter 17y ago
I'm pretty brain damaged I guess. I must drink at least a 3 liter bottle of diet Coke a day, probably more. I've tried stopping at various times and it's not easy; it's a somewhat more serious addiction than a lot of people might believe, imho. The best luck I've had was with drinking coffee for the caffeine and club soda for the bubbly sensation (not simultaneously), and I managed to get away from it for a month, but I've since lapsed. Will try again upon reading this article.
- berntb 17y ago
  I personally quit when I got too much teeth problems. You might want to quit carbonated and sugared drinks before you get that incentive...
  - azanar 17y ago
    Diet sodas contain aspartame, which does not promote tooth decay. A google search will produce a number of results, with varying degrees of motivation to market aspartame, all saying pretty much the same thing. For carbonated beverages in general, the concern appears to be more about the acids in the substance than in the carbonation, at least as my limited research suggests. Some of these same acids occur in a variety of other foods as well (citric acid in citrus fruits, for instance.) Others, like phosphoric acid, which has been correlated to decreased bone density in some studies, are only in certain soft drinks. Even then, the risk is not certain. Carbonation, on it's own produces very little relative tooth decay (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbonated_water#Health_effects http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbonated_water#Health_effects). There may be other concerns worth voicing, but these seem marginal.
    - Shooter 17y ago
      I wish there was a low/no calorie sweetener that was actually safe to use. Aspartame is a carcinogen, as are most other artificial sweeteners...even Splenda contains chlorine. Aspartame also gives me migraines, so I generally stick with cane sugar or honey. Stevia, xylitol, and erythyritol have many positives, but they're pricey and often have a bad aftertaste and/or laxative effect. I'm addicted to sweet tea, but I'm trying to reduce my sugar consumption. White and green tea and fruit spritzers are the only alternatives I've found that work for me...black tea just makes me crave sugar.

lsb 17y ago

Garbage in, garbage out. Why not just drink water, instead of Brawndo?

jraines 17y ago
Because Brawndo's got what programmers crave; it's got electrolytes! Hmm . . . maybe I just proved your point. All I've had to drink today is coffee and Red Bull.
- silentbicycle 17y ago
  When I see cans of Java Monster (an energy drink), I picture some junior programmer on an all-nighter, all hopped up on caffeine and copy-and-pasting more code than most people produce in a year. "Oh no! Our codebase got hit by a Java Monster last night!"

RiderOfGiraffes 17y ago

See also http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=616639 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=616639 posted a week ago.

CalmQuiet 17y ago

same bbc story (maybe one is "printable" format) week ago: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=616639 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=616639 My same disappointment with the "journalistic" coverage applies now: They don't seem to differentiate colas from other sodas. A surprise to me, since I seem to recall hearing the high phosphorous content of colas can compete with some other mineral absorption (calcium, was it?) ...maybe compete with potassium? Personally, I've felt better about my physical stamina when I surrender to my crave for a "fizzling" drink by going to some diet lemon-lime (no caffeine or sugar) rather than a "cola" (whether caffeinated or sugared). YMMV

lionheart 17y ago

The problem seems to be the fructose, corn syrup, and caffeine, not the actual "soda." I drink a brand called Diet Rite which is made with Splenda and has no caffeine or sodium. And, actually, I honestly like the taste of it better than Coke or Pepsi. I think something like that is fine and if the other soda companies switched to healthier ingredients they would be fine too.

lsb 17y ago
If you take all out the HFCS and caffeine, you have (mostly) flavored seltzer.
Shooter 17y ago
My in-laws drink Diet Rite and Vernor's Ginger Ale. Unfortunately, Splenda is not as safe as they make it out to be...it has chlorine in it. Chlorine is a carcinogen.

azanar 17y ago

From the responses I've seen so far, my reflection is as follows: You can moderate your behavior to reasonably mitigate the possible risks of certain substances as much as you feel is prudent give the relative certainty and severity of the risks; Or you can develop an ill-informed, hyperbolic, almost knee-jerk reaction to the risks and cast aspersions toward the people who shrug and either suggest all things in moderation, or suggest the risks aren't that high. It is not obvious to me that these people are either irresponsible or brain-damaged. It is just as possible they performed a rational risk assessment and arrived at a different conclusion. It's something to be discussed, not to be worked up into a religious fervor over. For example, from the comments herein, diet colas do not promote tooth decay, nor do they promote diabetes. In fact, they are considered safe for diabetic people to drink. They contain no sucrose, nor any HFCS. They contain aspartame, an alternative sweetener with entirely different properties. They contain carbonated water, but as I cited elsewhere, carbonated water is not that conducive to tooth decay. The study isn't even conclusive yet, and the article hedges this by saying it can cause muscle weakness, not that it will. The article mentions two people, and declare that the results can be generalized, because the investigators believe they can. They present this along with some scary statistics to assure us that, if the results can be generalized, we're all in peril. 2-3 liters sounds like a lot, but it is only because we've assumed a priori the certain risk of ingesting these substances, and declare the only proper amount for assuring ones health is 0 liters per day, with no variance. If the average were half that, aspersions would likely still be cast. Can we please be more reasonable about this?