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What one can of Coke actually does to your body in an hour will shock you!

Written By Nirmalya Dutta | Updated: Jul 30, 2015, 07:00 PM IST

We've all been told that cold drinks (popularly called soft drinks in India), are bad for your health. But do you know exactly how bad those innocous drinks, promoted by every celebrity under the sun are for you?

We've all been told that cold drinks (popularly called soft drinks in India), are bad for your health. But do you know exactly how bad those innocuous drinks, promoted by every celebrity worth his salt, are for you?

An infographic on The Renegade Pharmacist, a blog run by former UK pharmacist Niraj Naik, elucidates exactly what happens to our body after drinking a can of Coke or any other other fizzy drink:

After 10 minutes: 10 teaspoons of sugar hit your system. (100 per cent of your recommended daily intake.) You don't immediately vomit from the overwhelming sweetness because phosphoric acid cuts the flavour allowing you to keep it down.

After 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. (There's plenty of that at this particular moment).

After 40 minutes: Caffeine absorption is complete. Your pupils dilate, your blood pressure rises, as a response your livers dumps more sugar into your bloodstream. The adenosine receptors in your brain are now blocked preventing drowsiness.

After 45 minutes: Your body ups your dopamine production stimulating the pleasure centres of your brain. This is physically the same way heroin works, by the way.

After 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, electrolyte and water.

>60 minutes: As the rave inside of you dies down you'll start to have a sugar crash. You may become irritable and/or sluggish. You've also now, literally, urinated the water that was in the Coke. But not before infusing it with valuable nutrients your body could have used for things like even having the ability to hydrate your system or build strong bones and teeth.

How bad are soft drinks for you?

During an interview in 2013, on BBC Newsnight, the president of Coca-Cola Company's Europe Group, James Quincey had confirmed that a large helping of Coke, contains 10 teaspoons of sugar while a can had six teaspoons or 35 g of sugar. In the global battle against obesity, soft drinks are a major culprit. To put this in context, the American Heart Association suggests that men have a maximum of 37.5 g (9 teaspoons), women consume 25 g (6 teaspoons) and children should consume  12-16 g (3-4 teaspoons), depending on their age. This essentially means that one can of one soft drink is more than enough to fulfil your daily dietary requirements. 

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Stefano Nadella, Head of Global Equity Research at Credit Suisse, explains just how dangerous global sugar consumption is for people. He wrote in a study on global sugar consumption: "‘Recent research shows that as the sugar is in a solution, it is easily and completely ingested, giving a large injection of calories without the consequential feeling of being full."

The study's authors noted: “Added sugar can be found in almost everything edible: we feed it to children, it laces our breakfast cereals and it is a key ingredient of our soft drinks. As consumption has risen over the years, so has the prevalence of type II diabetes and obesity. Nowadays, 4.8 million people die of type II diabetes every year and close to 20% of the global population is obese.” 

Why we crave sugar?

Humans are evolutionarily geared to crave sugar since it contains glucose, which is an essential energy source for us to function. Earlier, it was only available through sources like fruits, which limited the amount of consumption. However, the industrial revolution led to the easy availability of crystalised sugar. This meant that everyone ended up consuming far more sugar than their diet actually required. Practically, everything you eat has added sugar in it. In fact, some experts have suggested that cold drinks should contain warnings similar to alcohol bottles or cigarette packets. After all, soft drinks cause obesity, heart disease, diabetes and dental decay, and that's just the tip of the iceberg.