(DrFrankLipman – Vani Hari) When I saw Coca-Cola’s new anti-obesity ad, my jaw dropped wide open. Yes, you read that right… Coca-Cola is on a new mission to fight the obesity epidemic now, in what I call a desperate attempt to prevent declining sales. The sad part is that some people will actually believe their nonsense. In the advertisement they try to make a case that there is room for Coca-Cola products in people’s “healthy” diets.
Coca-Cola is promoting the introduction of new low calorie beverages and using the failed logic of “a calorie is a calorie” to convince people who need to loose weight to keep Coca-Cola products around in their diet. But you know what? A calorie isn’t a calorie – when it’s made up of chemicals that affect how much you eat and the way your body metabolizes those chemicals.
So I’m here to break that down for you and detail out why Coca-Cola’s low calorie beverages will not fight obesity – and if anything – the reliance on low calorie chemical-filled drinks just perpetuates the problem even more. Proving in fact, that these drinks will continue to be linked to the increase in obesity. So I want you to focus on the truth that I am about to share with you now.
Here are some quotes from Coca-Cola’s Anti Obesity Advertisement:
“For over 125 years, we have been bringing people together”
Really?? How? By selling a products to adults and children that are linked to diabetes, heart disease and obesity? Hmmm…. What do you call spending millions of dollars against the consumer’s right to know – i.e. GMO labeling – Is this bringing people together? If anything – it makes you an enemy company people should boycott.
“We’ve created smaller portion control sizes for our most popular drinks and we’ll have then in about 90% of the country by the end of this year”
A smaller can of poison will not solve obesity. Thank you.
“No matter where they come from, including Coca-Cola and everything else with calories. And if you eat and drink more calories than you burn off, you’ll gain weight”
This is faulty logic and I’ll show you why in just a minute…
“Across our portfolio of more than 650 beverages we now offer over 180 low and no calorie choices and most of our full calorie beverages now have low or no calorie versions. Over the last 15 years, this has helped reduce the average calories per serving across our industries products in the US by about 22%”
This is where I want to take a closer look at exactly which low calorie beverages Coca-Cola is referring to… here are some examples and the ingredients these low calorie beverages include:
Artificial Sugars – Linked to Obesity and a Myriad of Diseases
Sure you can save some calories drinking beverages with artificial sugars, but you won’t reduce your risk of obesity or getting a tumor.
If someone is trying to lose weight, the consumption of artificial sweeteners is not the solution and will not work as long term strategy. Artificial Sweeteners are proven to stimulate your appetite, increase carbohydrate cravings, and promote fat storage and weight gain.
That’s right – consuming artificial sweeteners actually increases your appetite. Think about it – when someone consumes something that is sweet, but it has little to no calories – their brain receives a signal to want more calories because their body is not actually getting any energy (i.e. enough calories) to get satisfied. So that person keeps looking for gratification elsewhere and ends up craving more.
The fact that Coca-Cola and other food industry giants are getting away with this “orchestrated deception” is unbelievable and then to say developing low calorie beverages using these artificial sweeteners is actually going to help the obesity epidemic? Seriously? Who are they kidding?
Furthermore, there are more dangerous side effects from artificial sweeteners, especially aspartame, which is considered one the most dangerous substances allowed in our food supply. Aspartame is found in Powerade, Diet Coke, Coke Zero, Diet Dr. Pepper, Fanta Light, Fuze, Minute Maid Light, etc.
Over 10,000 complaints have been filed with the FDA on this substance since 1980 and has actually never been proven to be safe before it was approved for use in our food supply. Aspartame is linked to diabetes, auto-immune disorders, depression (which can cause you to eat more – once again), birth defects, and several forms of cancer.
“Erythritol” found in Vitamin Water Zero is a sugar alcohol the body does not easily digest and is linked to diarrhea, headache and other intestinal disorders.
Acesulfame Potassium or acesulfame K is the one of main sweeteners in Minute Maid Fruit Falls – which is a low calorie beverage aimed at kids – and Monster Zero for example. According to the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) it is anything but safe. CSPI reported the safety tests of acesulfame-K that were conducted in the 1970s were inadequate. Specifically, two rat studies suggest that the additive might cause cancer, but these studies were never addressed by the FDA before they approved the substance to also be used unregulated in soft drinks. In addition it is mentioned that large doses of acetoacetamide (a breakdown product of this sugar) have been shown to affect the thyroid in rats, rabbits, and dogs. As you might know – the thyroid gland – regulates the endocrine system, which is responsible the metabolism.
If Coca-Cola wanted to really improve their offerings – they would immediately eliminate artificial sugars from their products.
Natural Flavors – Trick Consumers To Drink More
By producing zero or low calorie drinks that taste like the “real thing,” Coca-Cola is “hijacking” your taste buds one by one. Food scientists can engineer natural flavors to cause the inability to stop eating or drinking. All of the Coca-Cola products listed above have added natural flavors. These flavors scientists synthesize trick your mind into wanting more and more. They don’t want you to have the full essence of the strawberry or real coconut – they want you to only experience the best 1 millionth part of the taste – so you get “addicted” and keep having to go back for more and more, searching continuously for gratification – eating more of that product which in turns fills Coca-Cola’s pocket, as well as other big food companies.
This is an industry trick that is used in so many products – beyond drinks – but is the most prevalent in low calorie beverages. In a few versions of Coca-Cola’s product Zico – a coconut water – they have to use natural flavors to cover up the fact that they are getting coconuts from all over the world, that taste different, which they then process into “concentrate.” The coconut water is heated down to syrup and then reconstituted with water. To keep the flavor consistent – they have to add back in natural flavors and what you end up with is an inferior product that is a mix of several different species of coconuts that have lost their original integrity, taste and nutrition.
Artificial Colors – Attract Adults and Children to Unhealthy Drinks
Adding artificial colors into food, actually contributes to the obesity epidemic by attracting children (and adults) to fake sweetened drinks that provide almost zero nutrition. This is another marketing ploy by Coca-Cola to target more people to get addicted to their products.
Additionally – it’s important to note – the caramel coloring that Coca-Cola and other soda giants like Pepsi use – is completely artificial – not the stuff you make at home by cooking sugar. This caramel color is manufactured by heating ammonia and sulfites under high pressure, which creates carcinogenic compounds. A high dose of this known carcinogen is proven to cause liver tumors, lung tumors, and thyroid tumors in rats and mice.
When The Center for Science in the Public Interest released a study last year found dangerous levels of caramel coloring could be contributing to thousands of cancers in the US, it prompted Coca-Cola and Pepsi to quickly change their formulas so they didn’t have to include the cancer warning label on their products in California.
Regardless of the reformulation – many of Coca-Cola’s products still contain this caramel coloring – even if it’s in a lesser amount. How small of a dose of poison are you willing to take on a regular basis?
Overconsumption of Caffeine – Causes Addiction and Adrenal Fatique
The reason why so many of Coca-Cola’s low calorie drinks contain caffeine – is because they want you to become addicted. The stimulation you get from the caffeine, along with the taste of something sweet – keeps you coming back for more and more. One of the most alarming drinks on the market is “Monster Zero” which can be directly affect how youradrenal glands function and lead to persistent exhaustion. What happens when people are exhausted all the time? They stop moving… and likely gain weight.
Right now, Monster energy drinks is being sued by multiple families because it is suspected to have caused death of their loved ones. Despite these lawsuits and the recent FDA report about the dangers of energy drinks, Monster continues to be on the market.
Genetically Modified Organisms or GMO’s – Linked to Obesity
Every single one of Coca-Cola’s products here are likely to have GMO’s. That’s because they have a hidden corn based product – like sorbitol, fructose, aspartame, maltodextrin, or citric acid. And why in the world would they have spent millions fighting GMO-labeling in California, if their products weren’t full of them!
A study published in the International Journal of Biological Sciences shows that GM food is indeed contributing to the obesity epidemic. The study found that GM corn fed to mice led to an increase in overall body weight of about 3.7 percent, while also increasing the weight of the liver by up to 11 percent.
The American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM), reported studies that show GMOs responsible for faulty insulin regulation and therefore advise their patients to have GMO-free diets.
Preservatives – Accelerate Aging and Acidify The Body
Preservatives like sodium benzoate are in almost all of Coca-Cola’s products. The Mayo Clinic reported that this preservative may increase hyperactivity in children. Also, when sodium benzoate combines with ascorbic acid (vitamin C) benzene can form a carcinogen and kill DNA cells, and accelerate aging.
Preservatives cause accelerated aging because they acidify the body. Dr. Jameth Sheridan (D.H.M.) Doctor of Holistic Medicine, states that it takes 36 glasses of water to re-alkaline your body after drinking just one diet soda. 36 glasses! Wow.
When your body is in an alkaline state your chances of developing disease is significantly lower than a body in an acidic state. This is because our bodies are made of up of billions of cells that are naturally alkaline according to it’s ph balance. When we consume more acidic foods (i.e. many of Coca-Cola’s low calorie drinks) vs. alkaline foods this upsets the balance and leads to all sorts of trouble for our bodies and the organs that regulate our metabolism and weight.
Bisphenol A (aka BPA) in Cans – Linked to Obesity
After reviewing the results of over 3,000 children and teens who had high urine BPA levels and high body mass index, a very recent study determined that BPA is linked to childhood obesity. BPA has already been banned in baby bottles – however, kids across the country are still drinking Coca-Cola products tainted with this environmental toxin.
Coca-Cola has downright refused to eliminate BPA from it’s products and even defends the use of this metabolism destroying compound on their website.
Fructose & Fruit Juice From Concentrate – Too Much Sugar For the Body To Process
You’ll find crystalline fructose in Vitamin Water Zero, which is made from (genetically modified) corn starch which is 20% sweeter than sugar. Fructose is processed by the body differently than other sugars – and is linked to fatty liver disease, cirrhosis, coronary arterial disease and obesity.
Coca-Cola claims that they have helped remove soda from schools by replacing them with juices. (This not entirely true – they actually fought the removal of vending machines in schools). Nonetheless, these juices are mainly comprised of fruit juice concentrates and do little if anything to solve the problem of obesity.
Consuming fruit juice concentrate on a regular basis actually overloads sugar in the liver, which increases the risk of diabetes, heart disease and obesity.
For instance, Minute Maid fruit juice might contain several ounces of straight fructose, with none of the fiber, pulp, or living enzymes that help the body properly digest the sugar.
A Cola Cola sponsored smoothie bar using real whole fruit in schools would be a MUCH better solution – just a thought.
In summary, at the end of Coca Coca’s advertisement they invite you …
“To learn more, and visit coke.com/comingtogether”
Ha! That’s funny. When pigs fly! That’s the last place anyone should go to learn about solving obesity.
If you know a friend or family member who still consumes Coca-Cola products – especially these “low or zero calorie” beverages – please share this article with them.
You could be their hero!
Wishing you lots love, health and a longer life than this tortoise.
Food Babe