Cola Consumption Can Lead To Muscle Problems

wjousts writes "As I'm sure many Slashdot readers live almost exclusively on cola drinks, a new warning from doctors: 'Doctors have issued a warning about excessive cola consumption after noticing an increase in the number of patients suffering from muscle problems, according to the June issue of IJCP, the International Journal of Clinical Practice. ... 'Evidence is increasing to suggest that excessive cola consumption can also lead to hypokalaemia, in which the blood potassium levels fall, causing an adverse effect on vital muscle functions.' And sorry, diet colas aren't any better."

Comments

Cool story bro

[Anonymous Coward]

I drink mountain dew instead.

Re:Cool story bro

[FredFredrickson]

According to the article:

It appears that hypokalaemia can be caused by excessive consumption of three of the most common ingredients in cola drinks â" glucose, fructose and caffeine.

So first off, Yes, Diet makes a difference- lacking two of the ingredients. And Diet Caffeine free is just fine. Additionally, these three inrgedients are not cola exclusive. Coffee (from dunks with liquid sugar), Root Beer, and other drinks, I'm sure, could find yourself in the same dillema.

I'm annoyed at this doomsday article (not just TFS, but TFA) which is totally shock value, and one paragraph of truth.

But then again, I suppose I should get used to that.

Re:Cool story bro

[wjousts]

And Diet Caffeine free is just fine.

I wouldn't be as bold as to suggest that anything about Diet Caffeine free coke is "fine".

Re:Cool story bro

[JWSmythe]

    Actually, it's right.

    I'll preface this with... INAHN (I'm not a health nut), I'm just very aware of the bad things that I consume. I'm smoking a cigarette and drinking a tall glass of cold soda while I'm writing this. :)

    "natural" products, that aren't manufactured, but just bottled, are ok, but rather rare in most stores.

    "manufactured" products usually contain refined sugars, preservatives, artificial colors, etc, etc. The're all bad for you.

    The human body isn't designed to handle refined sugars very well. It does ok with raw sugar, but only in reasonable quantities. If they used raw sugar in the quantity that shows up in most sodas, it's bad for you. There was a recent study (and review of historical data) that showed the instances of diabetes were virtually nil compared to now. The major contributor? refined sugars.

    Caffeine free soda has more bad stuff in it, just not caffeine.

    Diet or sugar free sodas have artificial sweeteners that are cancer causing (among other things). Myself, I can't drink any diet soda. Even just a sip, and I'll have a migraine for the next 8 hours. I've been very unhappy during road trips, if/when I stop at a drive through and they hand me a diet soda instead of the regular one I ordered. One sip, and now I have 8 hours of driving where it feels my brain is going to explode.

   

Re:Cool story bro

[retchdog]

Refined sugar is just as new to our bodies, on the evolutionary time scale, as high fructose corn syrup. Even the volumes associated with the modern concept of fruit juice are new: 12 oz. of orange juice is considered reasonable to drink, even though it's equivalent to eating six oranges in a few minutes. Lots more sugar, and much more frequently, than we had during what I'm sure was a pre-technological paradise. Oh yeah, even "natural" juices often have the vitamins stripped out and added back in after pasteurization. Little difference between orange juice and cola, really. If you like one over the other fine, but it's close to a wash nutritionally.

There's nothing wrong with living your life by various rules of thumb, because it's impossible to get into all of the details in one lifetime. But insisting on the dogmatic conclusions of your heuristics, is sheer insanity.

Re:Cool story bro

[Brian Gordon]

Arsenic is natural. Tobacco is natural. Multivitamins are artificial.

Re:Cool story bro

[Jarik C-Bol]

caffeine free diet soda. for when you are low on artificial coloring.

Re:Cool story bro

[Lord Ender]

Oh Jesus, Internet. Not this again. Can't we all agree that the science indicates aspartame is either harmless or barely measurably harmful, and certainly less harmful than the obesity one gets from consuming large amounts of sugar?

Re:Cool story bro

[morgan_greywolf]

Diet or sugar free sodas have artificial sweeteners that are cancer causing (among other things).

That's a myth. It's supported by the fact that most diet sodas used to contain saccharine, which is a sweetener that has been shown to cause cancer in laboratory rats if fed to them in sufficiently large quantities. As a result of these (possibly spurious) studies, most soft drink companies switched their artificial sweetener to aspartame ("Equal") many years ago (in the 1980s), which, as you can see by my link, has definitely not been shown by any studies to cause cancer (or lupus, or diabetes mellitus, or any other such nonsense). Virtually all of the evidence of aspartame causing ailments, including headaches, is entirely anecodotal and unsupported by scientific study.

Re:Cool story bro

[JWSmythe]

    Well, I know the migraines are easily reproducible for me. When I didn't know what the cause was, I was really confused. I'd drink whatever was put in front of me. Now, I don't drink diet sodas or tequila. Anything else is fair game. :)

    I did sample testing, but I've also accidentally fallen into blind tests. I've gone to friends house, and they've poured me a drink. I didn't know until my head hurt, so I'd ask "was that a diet drink?" Nothing else that I've ever consumed has ever given me a headache quickly. Alcohol does it too, but that's usually from over consumption, and the headache comes later. :) That's easily mitigated by the consumption of large quantities of fluids before the headache comes on.

Re:Cool story bro

[CarpetShark]

I'll preface this with... INAHN (I'm not a health nut), I'm just very aware of the bad things that I consume. I'm smoking a cigarette and drinking a tall glass of cold soda while I'm writing this. :)

It's a strange world where people say this as a way of convincing you to listen to them on health topics :)

Re:Cool story bro

[SpeZek]

Of course only drinking diet soda won't magically make fat people skinny, but it helps a lot. When you drink 2 or 3 cans of coke a day, that's 300-450 calories from nothing. That's a whole meal, really. Eliminating a whole meal a day certainly goes a long way to losing weight, without curtailing your cravings for the taste of cola.

Re:Cool story bro

[BKX]

While that's perfectly logical and well-reasoned it flies in the face of actual real-world studies. Science now knows (for certain, using statistics and actual data) that drinking diet soda versus regular soda has no positive impact whatsoever on obesity rates. Source In fact, that article actually claims that diet soda drinkers are MORE likely than their regular soda drinking counterparts to be obese.

Now, as the article points out, correlation isn't causation, but the taste of diet soda combined with no proof of its efficacy as a weight reducing substance means that I'll certainly never consider drinking it.

Re:Cool story bro

[Anonymous Coward]

Little difference between orange juice and cola, really. If you like one over the other fine, but it's close to a wash nutritionally.

Not true; for instance, orange juice contains potassium:
see here

('...One eight-ounce glass of orange juice contains 450 milligrams of potassium, the same as an average banana....')

Re:Cool story bro

[fooslacker]

Hint: if it's manufactured, it's bad for you.

Sigh. This attitude is silly and I get tired of hearing the "if it's natural it's good for you crowd". Some manufactured things are bad some are good. There are manufactured medicines that save lives every day. And their are all manner of natural things that (e.g. urainium, hemlock, poison frogs, leprosy, lightning) that are bad for you. We should try to learn about ourselves and understand what is good and what is bad and why rather than simply generalizing and passing on a deceptive concept to those we talk with.

Re:Cool story bro

[x2A]

"diet soda drinkers are MORE likely than their regular soda drinking counterparts to be obese"

Cuz if you're not fat, why put yourself through diet? It's hardly rocket surgery.

Re:Cool story bro

[w0mprat]

Multivitamins are no different to having a diet that consists of fresh fruit, vegetables and meats. While not the best substitute for a decent diet, to say that vitamins aren't natural is just stupid.

No. No. Yes to the the stupid bit.

IAAAHN (i AM actually a health nut): There are a multitude of beneficial micro-nutrients, anti-oxidants and other compounds in fruits and vegetable, legumes and meats, that you simply don't these get through a popping a multi-vitamin, thus even a comprehensive vitamin and mineral supplement can never replace a good diet.

Plants contain beneficial phytochemicals, flavinoids, anti-inflamiatory compounds, fatty-acids, amino acids, etc, etc. even the soluble fibre and insoluble roughage are highly beneficial to the essential life-supporting colony of bacteria that you are a host to. It's important not to ignore them either, your are a walking colony of your single-celled ancestors descendants, and guess what, a lot of them are along for the ride in your guts - there are 10 times as many cells in your body that are not you as human cells are more than 100 times larger than the bacteria in your gut.

Put simply a full spectrum multi-vitamin would not replace vegetables without about 100-150 different compounds.

Not eating your greens and eating too much processed foods seriously fraks with your internal biota, there's plenty of thought that suggests this is the cause or at least implicated in many modern ills.

You won't develop deficiency and/or die if you don't have these compounds, you can live without them. However the human body has actually evolved ingesting all these fringe nutrients, it stands to reason this is why our health benefits from these compounds. Some would argue they might as well be considered essential based on the benefit to our longevity and physical function.

Their really aren't any shortcuts to good health. Its a no-brainer that the key to good health is following the lifestyle that our bodies and minds evolved in. Exercise and wholefoods and time outdoors, you can't escape, ditch the cola and go for a jog.

Re:Cool story bro

[Wheat]

Yeah, OK. Or I can take a nearly-free multi-vitamin which is like eating my fill of every fruit and vegetable on the face of the planet, instantly, and with a net zero calories which I can spend later on the tastier cola (or to be frugal, water).

A multi-vitamin and a sugary drink (or water) is not even close to the equivalent to eating your fill of fruits and veggies. Yes, you will meet or exceed your bodies vitamin and mineral requirements, but you'll be completely lacking in phytonutrients, fiber, fatty acids and anti-oxidants. The human body requires a lot more than just vitamins, minerals and simple carbohydrates!

Re:Cool story bro

[atraintocry]

no positive impact whatsoever on obesity rates.

Statistics is that they don't necessarily apply to the individual, though. I lost 20 pounds recently, and while part of it was strict diet and exercise, part of it was cutting out crap like soda. But sometimes I want a soda, so I have diet soda. Technically I'm obese but my BMI is well on the way to merely overweight.

I have an alternate hypothesis about the diet soda statistic. Based on my own experience, if someone trying to lose weight isn't drinking only water, they might be doing it wrong. You have to get used to eating healthy and drinking healthy. For a while it seems like your are eating/living bland, but you get used to it and a healthy diet tastes normal while really rich foods taste really rich.

Maintaining weight is easy, and diet foods can be a help in that. But losing weight involves a lifestyle change that is torture at first but which gets easier with time. I used to drink a lot of sweetened stuff. Now it's mostly water, and I really enjoy drinking water all the time. Diet soda is like false hope. Anything in life worth having requires sacrifice, and giving someone soda that has no calories can be like telling them they don't have to sacrifice.

Shit

[sexconker]

Define "excessive", please.

Re:Shit

[Cryogenic Specter]

According to the article, the people were drinking 3 to 7 LITERS a day. That is a lot.

Re:Shit

[adisakp]

According to the article, the people were drinking 3 to 7 LITERS a day. That is a lot.

If you drank 7 liters of pure water a day you would probably suffer from low potassium as a result of electrolytes being flushed our in your urine. The US-RDA for water is 2 liters of water (8 cups) per day.

Not to mention, eating 2-3 bananas over the course of the day would probably correct the problem.

Re:Shit

[Anonymous Coward]

The US-RDA for water is 2 liters of water (8 cups) per day.

[Citation needed]

There is explicitly no RDA for water. The DRI or AI for water is between 2.7-3.7 liters per day, but "includes all water contained in food, beverages, and drinking water." Those references also note that "Thirst and consumption of beverages at meals are adequate to maintain hydration." -- I.e. no need to carry a bottle to constantly sip from as if you're trying to survive a desert hike, on top of every other beverage you're already drinking.

The 64 oz / day myth was created by people who can't read both consecutive sentences from the 1945 Food & Nutrition Board study: "An ordinary standard for diverse persons is 1 milliliter for each calorie of food. Most of this quantity is contained in prepared foods." Well established. The most recent recommendation from the same board suggests approximately 3 liters of water, about-faces itself saying most (80%) is met through beverages, explicitly denotes caffeinated beverages as an acceptable source of hydration, and similarly reiterates that the "vast majority" of people meet their hydration need merely by responding to thirst - not by forcing themselves to drink water to hit a magic number.

This stuff is b-a-n-a-n-a-s

[Red Flayer]

'Evidence is increasing to suggest that excessive cola consumption can also lead to hypokalaemia, in which the blood potassium levels fall, causing an adverse effect on vital muscle functions.'

Bananas contain lots of potassium.

Solution is obvious: drink all the cola you want, just make sure to supplement with banana ice cream. Added advantage of calcium and magnesium in the ice cream (also necessary for proper muscle function).

This post brought to you by Dole-omite and Benn & Gerry's.

Re:This stuff is b-a-n-a-n-a-s

[Moblaster]

Too late. A certain extremely large software company has already patented the banana ice cream Coke float (as well as a number of variations involve diet and Pepsi applications) in order to provide its programmers a permanent competitive advantage.

Re:This stuff is b-a-n-a-n-a-s

[Red Flayer]

From a physiological perspective, though, the problem is not a lack of potassium. That is a symptom. While it requires treatment, the underlying cause also should be treated

The problem is probably comprised of two main factors: caffeine intoxication and fructose-related diarrhea.

Re:This stuff is b-a-n-a-n-a-s

[Red Flayer]

Hypokalemia is a documented side effect of caffeine intoxication. We have discovered this same problem in coffee drinkers, if you read the literature, you'd see for yourself.

Please note the "excessive" volumes referred to in TFA are on the order of 4+ (or up to 10+) L per day. That's like 2+ to 5+ pots of strong coffee a day in terms of caffeine content.

This is probably exacerbated by the "flushing" of electrolytes via diarrhea caused by high-volume fructose consumption.

Please. Know what you're talking about, or at least RTFA, before you try to make a counter-argument.

Overhydration can cause hypokalemia via excess elimination as well, but that becomes a problem long after hyponatremia becomes a severe problem.

Crap

[Archangel Michael]

I fear for Abby (NCIS).

Re:This study sponsored by 7-Up - The Uncola!

[Chabo]

But if you mix cola and uncola, they annihilate each other, producing huge amounts of pure energy. Be careful!

Very dramatic

[4D6963]

Hypokalemia is very dramatic. Not. According to Wikipedia:

Mild hypokalemia is often without symptoms, although it may cause a small elevation of blood pressure,[5] and can occasionally provoke cardiac arrhythmias. Moderate hypokalemia, with serum potassium concentrations of 2.5-3 mEq/L, may cause muscular weakness, myalgia, and muscle cramps (owing to disturbed function of the skeletal muscles), and constipation (from disturbed function of smooth muscles).

In other words you might have cramps and the likes, and be constipated. And what's the no less dramatic cure to this terrible ailment? Oral potassium chloride supplements (Klor-Con, Sando-K, Slow-K) or just eating leafy green vegetables, tomatoes, citrus fruits, oranges or bananas.

Really, thanks for that Slashdot. While we're at it, did you know that it is estimated that over 40% of the population has B12 deficiency, and that it can cause tiredness, decreased mental work capacity, decreased concentration and decreased memory, irritability and depression?

Re:Not gonna help you, bro

[retchdog]

Yes, a very very slow bullet.

I'm not sure what a "showel" is, but: There is no convincing evidence that moderate consumption of aspartame causes harm. The evidence was all from "accelerated failure studies", where they gave mice extreme doses and extrapolated back to normal consumption. Well, that's not bad for a first approximation, and diet drinks had a cancer warning label for a while. However, the studies were refuted early on and now time has borne out that the studies were incorrect. There's apparently a threshold effect, and under a certain dosage (which is quite high), it's perfectly safe.

If you want to worry about something, worry about brominated vegetable oil, which is used in Mt. Dew and other citrus sodas to disperse the citrus oils uniformly in the drink. Or, if you really want to worry about something which actually has a non-negligible chance of killing/disabling you, look both ways before crossing the street and always wear your seatbelt; and (a distant second) don't smoke.

Good thing I drink Mountain Dew...

[shellster_dude]

I only have to worry about a shrinking penis.

http://www.snopes.com/medical/potables/mountaindew.asp

Re:Not gonna help you, bro

[Scrameustache]

There is no convincing evidence that moderate consumption of aspartame causes harm.

September 30, 1980-- The Public Board of Inquiry concludes NutraSweet should not be approved pending further investigations of brain tumors in animals. The board states it "has not been presented with proof of reasonable certainty that aspartame is safe for use as a food additive."

January 1981-- Donald Rumsfeld, CEO of Searle, states in a sales meeting that he is going to make a big push to get aspartame approved within the year. Rumsfeld says he will use his political pull in Washington, rather than scientific means, to make sure it gets approved.

January 21, 1981-- Ronald Reagan is sworn in as President of the United States. Reagan's transition team, which includes Donald Rumsfeld, CEO of G. D. Searle, hand picks Dr. Arthur Hull Hayes Jr. to be the new FDA Commissioner.

March, 1981-- An FDA commissioner's panel is established to review issues raised by the Public Board of Inquiry.

May 19, 1981-- Three of six in-house FDA scientists who were responsible for reviewing the brain tumor issues, Dr. Robert Condon, Dr. Satya Dubey, and Dr. Douglas Park, advise against approval of NutraSweet, stating on the record that the Searle tests are unreliable and not adequate to determine the safety of aspartame.

July 15, 1981-- In one of his first official acts, Dr. Arthur Hayes Jr., the new FDA commissioner, overrules the Public Board of Inquiry, ignores the recommendations of his own internal FDA team and approves NutraSweet for dry products.

oh noes

[CAIMLAS]

Gee, this is hardly surprising. Who'd have thought that over-indulgence of soft drinks (or 'adult' drinks like beer and liquor) would result in physical problems?

With soda/cola/pop/whatever, you are consuming a supersaturate. There is a shitload of sugar in there, and its consumption will dehydrate you. And it's not all that good for the ol' pancreas, either.

Diet sodas are also a problem, as they have aspartame in them. Aspartame is a mild neurotoxin. No, you won't get dehydrated and get muscle fatigue that way, but you sure as hell will cause problems down the line. Some people who are highly environmentally sensitive will have an allergic/asthmatic reaction to the stuff.

Potassium and Hypocalcemia

[sandman83]

Just as the article states that the excessive drinking of cola drinks can cause problems with low potassium. What it doesn't tell you is that the phosphoric acid found in these drinks can also lead to being hypocalcemic. As the acid usually displaces the calcium that's found in the blood stream, and raises the phosphoric levels. The side affects of hypocalcemia can range from numbing/tingling of the extremities, tetany(seizing of the muscle), all the way to seizures and even death in most extreme cases. To those who have a rare condition called Hypoparathyroidism, it can become life threatening withing minutes of we call a "crash". We use the term "crash" to signify that the blood calcium to have suddenly dropped to low levels and start become symptomatic. When that happens and the person can't get bring the levels back up. The next course of action would to get the person to emergency room as fast as possible. The thing is anyone can become hypocalcemic at anytime. Especially when they are on really poor diet.