Coca-Cola | Health Topics | NutritionFacts.org

45 videos

Topic summary contributed by volunteer(s): Paul

Concern that one of the most commonly consumed food colorings may cause cancer has led to changes in soft drink formulation in California. Evidence from PET scans suggests brain activity changes due to the overconsumption of sugar may parallel that of drug addiction. The consumption of phosphorus preservatives in junk food including soda may damage blood vessels, accelerate the aging process, and contribute to osteoporosis. In response to definitive evidence showing that artificial colors may increase hyperactivity among children, a call has been made by consumer groups to ban food dyes. When combined with ascorbic acid in soda, the additive sodium benzoate can form the carcinogen, benzene.

Given that obesity is a contributing cause of chronic disease in the United States, food corporations including the soft drink industry can be thought of as the new vectors of disease. Collaboration between corporations such as McDonald’s, Pepsi, Coca-Cola, and the Registered Dietitian organization (formally known as the American Dietetic Association), may have influenced the ADA to publically announce that “there are no good or bad foods”. The Coca-Cola Company even acknowledges that sugar is just empty calories with no micronutrients, yet billions in tax dollars are still used to subsidize the very foods that are making us sick.

The information on this page has been compiled from the research presented in the videos listed. Sources for each video can be found by going to the video’s page and clicking on the Sources Cited tab.

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons. This image has been modified.

All Videos for Coca-Cola

What Not to Eat for Stroke Prevention

What Not to Eat for Stroke Prevention

What is the relationship between stroke risk and dairy, eggs, meat, and soda?

The Role of Corporate Influence in the Obesity Epidemic

The Role of Corporate Influence in the Obesity Epidemic

Like the tobacco industry adding extra nicotine, the food industry employs taste engineers to accomplish a similar goal: maximize the irresistibility of their products.

The Role of Food Advertisements in the Obesity Epidemic

The Role of Food Advertisements in the Obesity Epidemic

We all like to think we make important life decisions like what to eat consciously and rationally, but if that were the case we wouldn’t be in the midst of an obesity epidemic.

The Role of Diet vs. Exercise in the Obesity Epidemic

The Role of Diet vs. Exercise in the Obesity Epidemic

The common explanations for the cause of the obesity epidemic put forward by the food industry and policymakers, such as inactivity or a lack of willpower, are not only wrong, but actively harmful fallacies.

What are the best beverages

What Are the Best Beverages?

A review of reviews on the health effects of tea, coffee, milk, wine, and soda.

Foods that Help Headache and Migraine Relief

Foods That Help Headache and Migraine Relief

Plant-based diets are put to the test for treating migraine headaches.

Are Fortified Kids’ Breakfast Cereals Healthy or Just Candy?

Are Fortified Kids’ Breakfast Cereals Healthy or Just Candy?

The industry’s response to the charge that breakfast cereals are too sugary.

Evidence Based Weight Loss

Evidence-Based Weight Loss – Live Presentation

In this live presentation, Dr. Greger offers a sneak peek into his book How Not to Diet.

Does Sugar Lead to Weight Gain?

Does Sugar Lead to Weight Gain?

The sugar industry’s response to evidence implicating sweeteners in the obesity epidemic.

Sugar Industry Attempts to Manipulate the Science

Sugar Industry Attempts to Manipulate the Science

How the food industry responds to “health food faddists.”

How Much Should You Exercise?

How Much Should You Exercise?

Physical fitness authorities seem to have fallen into the same trap as the nutrition authorities, recommending what they think may be achievable, rather than simply informing us what the science says and letting us make up our own mind.

What is the Healthiest Diet?

What Is the Healthiest Diet?

What is the baggage that comes along with the nutrients in your food?

American Medical Association Complicity with Big Tobacco

American Medical Association Complicity with Big Tobacco

Mainstream medicine’s permissive attitude towards smoking in the face of overwhelming evidence can be an object lesson for contemporary medical collusion with the food industry.

Which Has More Caramel Coloring Carcinogens: Coke or Pepsi?

Which Has More Caramel Coloring Carcinogens: Coke or Pepsi?

How many cola cancer cases are estimated to be caused by Coke and Pepsi in New York versus California, where a carcinogen labeling law (Prop 65) exists?

Reductionism and the Deficiency Mentality

Reductionism and the Deficiency Mentality

How the food, drug, and supplement industries have taken advantage of the field of nutrition’s reductionist mindset

The Downside of Green Smoothies

The Downside of Green Smoothies

Concerns about smoothies and oxalic acid, nitrate availability, dental erosion, and weight gain are addressed.

Switching from Beef to Chicken & Fish May Not Lower Cholesterol

Switching from Beef to Chicken & Fish May Not Lower Cholesterol

The negative impact of red meat on our cholesterol profile may be similar to that of white meat.

Are Raisins Good Snacks for Kids?

Are Raisins Good Snacks for Kids?

The California Raisin Marketing Board need not have funded such misleading studies, given the healthfulness of their product.

How Much Added Sugar Is Too Much?

How Much Added Sugar Is Too Much?

Are table sugar and high fructose corn syrup just empty calories or can they be actively harmful?

Protecting Teeth From Hibiscus Tea

Protecting Teeth from Hibiscus Tea

How can we protect our tooth enamel from the erosive natural acids found in sour foods and beverages?

Collaboration with the New Vectors of Disease

Collaboration with the New Vectors of Disease

Appeasement by the food industry through partnerships with children’s organizations to steer the focus to inactivity rather than our diet recalls tobacco industry-style tactics and may require tobacco industry-style regulation.

From Table to Able

From Table to Able: Combating Disabling Diseases with Food

Dr. Greger has scoured the world’s scholarly literature on clinical nutrition and developed this new presentation based on the latest in cutting-edge research exploring the role diet may play in preventing, arresting, and even reversing some of our leading causes of death and disability.

Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Conflicts of Interest

Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics Conflicts of Interest

What effect do corporate sponsorships from food companies have on the American Academy of Family Physicians and the Registered Dietitian organization (formally known as the American Dietetic Association)?

Taxpayer Subsidies for Unhealthy Foods

Taxpayer Subsidies for Unhealthy Foods

What if billions in tax dollars were invested in healthier options, rather than given to corporations to subsidize the very foods that are making us sick?

Who Says Eggs Aren't Healthy or Safe?

Who Says Eggs Aren’t Healthy or Safe?

Freedom of Information Act documents reveal that the U.S. Department of Agriculture warned the egg industry that saying eggs are nutritious or safe may violate rules against false and misleading advertising.

Is Caramel Color Carcinogenic?

Is Caramel Color Carcinogenic?

Concern that one of the most commonly-consumed food colorings may cause cancer has led to changes in soft drink formulation in California.

Are Sugary Foods Addictive?

Are Sugary Foods Addictive?

Evidence from PET scans suggests brain activity changes from the overconsumption of sugar may parallel that of drug addiction. Diminished “pleasure center” dopamine pathway sensitivity in obese individuals may be analogous to that found in cocaine addicts and alcoholics.

Phosphate Additives in Meat Purge and Cola

Phosphate Additives in Meat Purge and Cola

The consumption of phosphorus preservatives in junk food, and injected into meat, may damage blood vessels, accelerate the aging process, and contribute to osteoporosis.

BOLD Indeed: Beef Lowers Cholesterol?

BOLD Indeed: Beef Lowers Cholesterol?

The beef industry designed a study to show that a diet containing beef was able to lower cholesterol—if one cuts out enough poultry, pork, fish, and cheese to halve one’s total saturated fat intake.

Artificial Food Colors and ADHD

In response to definitive evidence showing artificial colors may increase inattentiveness, impulsivity, and hyperactivity among young children, a call has been made by consumer groups to ban food dyes.

Reducing Muscle Fatigue with Citrus

Daily citrus fruit consumption during athletic training may reduce muscle fatigue, as evidenced by lower blood lactate concentrations.

Male Fertility & Diet

Dioxins, endocrine disrupting pollutants, heavy metals, saturated fat, and steroids in the meat supply may be affecting sperm counts, semen quality, and the ability of men to conceive.

Does a Drink of Water Make Children Smarter?

Most children don’t drink water from when they wake up to when they go off to school. Interventional trials show this mild state of dehydration may negatively affect scholastic performance.

Does Coconut Oil Clog Arteries?

Sellers of coconut oil use a beef industry tactic to downplay the risks associated with the saturated fat in their products.

Plant-Based Diets: Dental Health

Those eating more sour fruit may risk greater erosion of their tooth enamel (especially if teeth are brushed in a softened state), but there’s a simple solution.

Fat Burning Via Flavonoids

Fat Burning via Flavonoids

Flavonoid phytonutrients (found concentrated in citrus, berries, red onions, beans, green tea, grapes, and cocoa) may boost metabolism enough to significantly slim one’s waistline.

risk associated with iron supplements

Risk Associated with Iron Supplements

Iron is a double-edged sword. If we don’t absorb enough, we risk anemia; but if absorb too much, we may increase our risk of cancer, heart disease, and a number of inflammatory conditions. Because the human body has no mechanism to rid itself of excess iron, one should choose plant-based (non-heme) sources, over which our body has some control.

Uprooting the Leading Causes of Death

Uprooting the Leading Causes of Death

Death in America is largely a foodborne illness. Focusing on studies published just over the last year in peer-reviewed scientific medical journals, Dr. Greger offers practical advice on how best to feed ourselves and our families to prevent, treat, and even reverse many of the top 15 killers in the United States.

Better Than Green Tea?

Better than Green Tea?

The antioxidant content of a number of popular beverages is compared: black tea, coffee, Coke, espresso, grape juice, green tea, hibiscus (Jamaica flower) tea, milk, Pepsi, Red Bull, red tea, red wine, and white wine. Which beats out even powdered (matcha) green tea?

Phytochemicals- The nutrition facts missing from the label

Phytochemicals: The Nutrition Facts Missing from the Label

There are thousands of flavonoid phytonutrients in fruits, vegetables, and other whole plant foods missing from the nutrition labels that may play a role in delaying the onset of Alzheimer’s disease.

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