Health issues are on the rise – as new diseases come up every year, people are becoming more concerned about their health and wellbeing.
Sugar is one constituent of food that is found in almost everything and makes up a large proportion of one’s daily calorie intake.
With the shift in consumers’ choices and preferences, the food and beverage industry has also adapted quickly.
They have introduced ‘healthier’ versions of all junk, leaving the consumers with a plethora of questions about their legitimacy.
Coke Zero is no different—diet drinks are sweetened with artificial sweeteners, making them either very low calorie or calorie-free.
However, there have been studies recently suggesting how diet sodas like Coke Zero can still make you fat.
Experts believe that excessive sugar intake is a leading cause of obesity and chronic diseases such as type-2 diabetes.
Food and lifestyle are regarded as the major contributing factors to one’s overall health. People are therefore more inclined to make healthier food choices now.
Contents
Can Coke Zero make you gain weight?
Regular Coke is full of sugar and calories, around 140 kcal per can.
Meanwhile, Coke Zero has zero calories, so it seems logical that if one is replaced with the other, it should help you at least maintain weight, if not lose it. However, results from several studies suggest otherwise!
Participants in a study, who started at a normal weight, drank three cans of diet soda each day and ended up being twice as prone to becoming obese or overweight after eight years, compared to their regular soda-drinking peers.
It contradicts the laws of physics, but scientists have come up with some theories to explain the relationship.
Insulin is produced by the body to metabolize sugar. Upon consuming Coke Zero, its sweet taste tells the brain to produce insulin, but no sugar is present to metabolize by insulin, disrupting the normal metabolic process of the body.
Coke Zero tastes sweeter than regular Coke; this excessive sweetness, along with zero calories confuses the brain further, leaving you to crave sugar even more and your metabolism is disturbed.
In addition, the calorie count is still used as a method by many to lose weight—with zero calories in the soda you have, you feel entitled to eat more.
With the disrupted metabolism because of Coke Zero, your body will then store very few of these calories as energy, rather, store most as fat.
Is it healthy to drink Coke Zero?
Coke Zero is marketed as a healthier version of the original Coke, but is it healthy? To begin with, let’s have a look at its nutritional value.
Coke Zero has zero calories, providing no nutrition at all.
Artificial sweeteners are used to sweeten the drink, adding no calories, whose health effects are controversial and are believed to contribute to adverse health conditions like metabolic syndrome and obesity.
Despite the drink being sugar free, its sugar substitutes may not be a healthier option to reduce diabetes risk.
It is also suggested that artificially sweetened beverages lead to the alteration of your gut microbiome, which leads to poor blood sugar control.
There are mixed research results on the effects of artificial sweeteners on diabetes risk, and further studies are needed to understand the potential relationship between the two.
What happens if you drink Coke Zero every day?
In America, every individual consumes soda in some form every day. Individuals are also becoming more health-conscious.
This leads to Coke Zero becoming one of the most popular products of the company, given the belief that it is healthier.
It is, however, also believed that Coke Zero or any other artificially sweetened drink is associated with obesity and other health concerns.
Studies have also found that those who had artificial sweeteners were on the overweight side of the BMI, as opposed to the natural sugar consumers.
Multiple health issues may occur because of having Coke Zero every day. Citric acid is a crucial ingredient used in Coke Zero.
Its pH level can increase the risk of degrading tooth enamel and lead to tooth erosion.
There is also a link between cardiac diseases and the consumption of artificially sweetened soft drinks.
Studies have also shown evidence of people being at double the risk of developing kidney diseases when they consume over seven glasses of soda per week.
The high phosphorous content present in the drink is the key ingredient posing this threat.
Regular intake of aerated drinks like Coke Zero can also lower bone mineral density, which causes osteoporosis.
Among women consumers, a link between premature births and soft drink consumption has also been identified.
What Happens After an Hour of Having Coke Zero?
As soon as you consume a can of Coke Zero, there are certain stages that the body goes through.
The artificial sweetener used in Coke Zero is aspartame.
Within the first ten minutes of drinking, taste buds are deceived by aspartame and gradually the teeth are attacked and have adverse effects.
After twenty minutes, the sweetener will trigger the same insulin, which is triggered by regular sugar. When this happens, the body may store fats.
With the action of both aspartame and caffeine present in the drink, after forty minutes of drinking, an adrenaline rush is triggered. You will then crave more of the drink and feel addicted to its taste.
Even after an hour or more of consuming the drink, your cravings will not be fulfilled. It can also lead to depletion of nutrients and make you hungrier and thirsty for more drinks!
Keeping these facts in view, it is advised to keep your Coke Zero consumption as low as possible.
