Is Coca-Cola really bad for You?

There are many articles online of how sugary drinks are bad for you, but is there any proof of how it actually alleviates weight gain, rejuvenates lost energy, and maintains regular blood pressure and sugar levels?

In a short review, called "The Surprising health benefits of Coca-Cola", Ella Walker gives four absolute top-of-the mind common reasons, why Coke was good with, in the first place. She states half way through, "As the caffeine enters your blood stream, it can spark increased concentration and mental focus, so if your attention levels are dipping, a mouthful or two of Coke could get you back up to speed. Over do it though and too much caffeine can leave you feeling jittery and stressed."

Today, there is the fad of low-fat, low-sugar diets, in much excess. We have forgotten the necessity of some certain amount of those nutrients that the body really needs, because of the failed shortenings of making bigger servings with every meal in America and now spreading across the globe. Isn't a serving size the problem, and the lack of control to a diet, not the food itself? Here we will break it down.

There is a needed control in eating habits, but the food or other companies, we once praised, is not the problem itself. There has been studies showing that the diets of the 1920's have been proven more successful in weight management, as the food was consisting of the right amount of servings of fats, sugars and natural nutrients that scientist first concluded as necessary with each serving. In the new decades, these days, food is made low-fat, higher in artificial sugar content and carbohydrates and lacking in the natural nutrients that give us what our brain, liver, heart, and whole body and organs need really to function on a daily, healthy basis or consisting nature, in order to compensate for our unhealthy manner of eating, at times.

People strive to live in a "healthy manner" to avoid heart disease with this new facade, but, really, more carbohydrates and artificial sugars are worse than the fat itself. It adds more weight, which adds more stress on the body if it gets out of control.

As the years have passed, since the 1990s we have made the simple mistake of bigger servings in American outlets and convenient stores, because of the fast-paced lifestyle of men and woman, and work ethic accompanied with no time to eat, and having too much stress. To please everyone, companies have made bigger servings everywhere. It has become a fad.

So, where does Coca-Cola fit in here? Why is Coca-Cola now a target these days? Why are we pointing at food or beverages that, once, before benefited us in a positive manner when it first came out? Really, what was the idea of making Coca-Cola in the first place, then? Did we forget that?

The thing to conclude here, is we really just need to watch our eating habits and control our intake when it comes to the food and drinks, itself, that may add too much stress to our body if not consumed in a smart and healthy manner of moderation, but pointing fingers at companies or food chains, or even restaurants for that matter, like McDonalds, is not always the answer. Remember, moderation, should've been in the forefront of your mind, before you pointed fingers.

When you take out the fat in certain foods or even the sugar, the body tends to overcompensate with consuming more food because of the lacking, and this adds to more weight gain. When you eat the full amount of what your body is really asking for (like scientist put out in the 1920s), it tends to take in the nutrients it wants, and healthily, in a call to nature way, sheds off the remaining, unnecessary weight that is held when you're system is starving of a certain nutrient and holding weight for a so called "hibernation season". In other words, it gives your body what it needs to release the fat and regulate a healthy weight management. The body naturally goes into starvation mode, when you deprive it of certain nutrients, and holds extra weight to keep from this mindset or precaution of "starvation", which is actually an unhealthy manner, and affects the brain functionality too. You become moody when you are hungry, because your brain screams "give me what I need", which explains a lot of leading assumptions toward people with depressive disorders, now, in America, and spreading to Asia. The excerpt, "Whole Milk vs. Skim Milk: The case against low-fat milk is stronger than ever.", is a smart article to say the least. They can never state it any better than this,

"Together, the body of data is beginning to reveal both that full-fat dairy has a place in a healthy diet, and also how focusing on one nutrient in the diet may backfire. When dietary guidelines began urging people to lower the amount of fat they ate, the idea was to reduce the amount of cholesterol and unhealthy fats in the body. But by focusing just on cutting out fat, experts didn’t count on the fact that people would compensate for the missing fat and start loading up on carbohydrates, which the body converts into sugar—and then body fat."

Why not just eating the right amount of everything, and consuming heavy sugars or heavy fats in moderation, because sometimes we need the nutrition? It further goes on from a standpoint of a doctor, “This is just one more piece of evidence showing that we really need to stop making recommendations about food based on theories about one nutrient in food,” says Mozaffarian. People are really in a whirlwind over something with such an easy solution. It is not a good notion to just take a loaded amount of nutrients away, or go on a fad, because of a certain idealistic logic. We have to take a step back and look at the whole picture. The same goes for sugar in drinks or other food, as fat, in this article. Sugar, Fats, Carbohydrates are all needed, not too much, not too little. Yes, as you get older, you should change your diet, with each certain age group, but do it by a "doctor's note", like a dietician, and not by grown fads seen online or in advertisement. So, let's say, is Coca-Cola really the culprit here or are we?

Sources for Writing:

Alice Park. "The case against Low-Fat Milk is Stronger than Ever." Time.com. http://time.com/4279538/low-fat-milk-vs-whole-milk/. 5 June, 2018.

Ella Walker. "Four Surprising Health Benefits of Coca-Cola." BT.com. http://home.bt.com/lifestyle/health/healthy-eating/surprising-health-benefits-of-coca-cola-11364003752974. 5 June, 2018.

Sources for Images:

Rachel Arthur. "Coca Cola Launches Coca Cola No Sugar: The Best Tasting Sugar Free Cola We Have Ever Made." June 12, 2017. BeverageDaily.com. Web. <https://www.beveragedaily.com/Article/2017/06/09/Coca-Cola-launches-Coca-Cola-No-Sugar>. October 22, 2019.