Cola-The Genie in the Bottle

How does the genie in the bottle attract so many different people from around the globe? Looking back about 100 years when the first cola recipe was created might help answer that question.

A pharmacist first mixed ingredients that were sure to make this a popular intoxicating drink. Back then the decisive ingredients, besides wine, were cocaine and caffeine from African cola nuts. With cocaine at that time being recommended as a cure for opium addicts, the Coca-Cola Company got a lot of loyal customers longing for the next bottle. (Cocaine disappeared from Coke in 1903.)

Today other components make up cola; sugar and caffeine increase levels of serotonin in the blood. Serotonin is a physiological "happy mood" facilitator. But if this were the only secret, there would be no difference between a heavily sugared cup of coffee and a cola! The worldwide success of cola is based on pharmacological substances that promote euphoric feelings. But how can this euphoria last when we take a closer look at research results?

Damage to the genetic make up of liver cells can be found in mice after drinking cola instead of water for an extended period of up to four weeks. The type of DNA damage that occurs is considered to be a crucial step in the development of cancer and is still discussed as one probable cause of cardiovascular disease. Some extracts in colas can literally harm genes.

"Thirst-quenching" cola makes rats very thirsty. Rats that were exposed to cola for a short four-week trial had two to three times higher fluid intake compared to rats that drank only water. The "cola" rats had smaller appetites, lost the shine from their fur and developed diarrhea and tooth decay. Hundreds of studies have proven cola's detrimental effect on teeth. The combination of sugar and acids, like phosphoric acid in cola, triggers tooth loss and tooth decay. Drinking cola and using toothpaste have the worst effect of all, probably because the acid drink damages dental enamel, which can be further damaged by toothpaste. The most vulnerable points are areas where dentures are fixed to healthy teeth. The dental enamel is already damaged to a certain degree; the brown pop has an easy job doing its acidic work.

Cola seems to have an unhealthy effect on kids' bones, especially those of young girls. The more soft drinks girls in a US study drank, the more they suffered from bone fractures. This might be because of the high phosphate content of cola, which can lead to hormonal reactions that make no bones about depleting the skeleton of calcium.

Studies have found extremely high levels of aluminum in the brains of Alzheimer's patients. This may indicate a connection between aluminum packaging and Alzheimer's disease. The oxidized cover of canned pop, especially cola, is not good enough to withstand the forces of citric or phosphoric acid, common ingredients in soft drinks.

Cola is a highly concentrated sugar solution, which leads to increased water excretion. Furthermore, cola increases diarrheic potassium loss because the soft drink encourages renal potassium excretion.

Parents Beware!

Family and physicians should be on the alert for kids, especially girls and young women, who regularly drink excessive amounts of cola. Cola suppresses the appetite and is often used by anorexics. Bulimic patients ease vomiting with its help. Patients look for the serotonin induced 'good mood' feeling they get after a couple of cola's.

In the '70's, American Family Physician journal placed cola and chocolate among the 10 food items that caused the most allergies. Since the cola nut tree and the coconut tree belong to the same botanical family, an allergic crossover reaction is possible. Symptoms such as headache, migraine, asthma, gastrointestinal disorders, hay fever and eczema might indicate a cola allergy.

Considering the variety of components that go into cola and its vast global distribution, it is astonishing that only a few studies have been conducted to investigate the allergic potency of this highly consumed non-alcoholic beverage. Why? We can only guess that the lack of research into the world's most popular soft drinks might be due to the fact that this refreshing ice-cold drink is too hot to handle!