i just had my first Coca-Cola in more than ten years.
A taste for the stuff. Meh.
But–are there any actual Health or Nutritional benefits to the stuff?
Besides calories from sugar, I mean.
Dirty water. Nothing in it worth wasting the calories and sugar on.
Occasionally I drink a diet Coke for the caffeine. I’m always disappointed.
As the Beck said, it’s caffeinated sugar water. Not much value in that. Except for the caffeine, but one can get that a LOT cheaper in other beverages.
Horrible stuff, sort of a manmade plague on mankind, but it tastes great - especially when really cold - and makes me happy. That’s good enough for me. Strictly psychological benefits.
“Stay the blazes home” - Stephen McNeil, Premier of Nova Scotia
I suppose, being liquid, it’s hydrating. Being factory manufactured and sealed, it’s safe to drink, and therefore possibly safer than local water sources, depending on location.
I’m struggling to cough up anything more, and still keep things G.Q. worthy.
It’s tasty. That’s all I really require of it.
The cap to the two liter bottle is just the right size to administer meds to inmates in a psych ward.
Cola syrup is useful for treating mild nausea. Carbonation may not be so helpful with that. So if you let a can of Coke go flat, I suppose you could say it has a health benefit of calming an upset stomach.
The small rush of joyous anticipation when you mix it with rum, ice and a squeeze of lime?
This. Any time I am looking for something to sip when I’m not feeling well, this works, and after I get a little bit down, then I can usually keep something else down, plus caffeine helps with headaches. I always keep some around for when I get a migraine with nausea.
Have to be careful, because I have hypoglycemia, and a lot of sugar can actually cause a low blood sugar episode, but I tried Diet Coke, and it didn’t work.
I stick with Coke Zero, it’s my lifeblood.
It is at least as healthy as coffee and beer.
I only drink Coca-Cola when I’m driving on long road trips. The sugar and caffeine really help me to stay awake and alert.
So… I guess you could consider not crashing and dying a health benefit!
… I’ve actually switched to Coke Zero now as I’m over 50 and watching my sugar intake. 
My ninth-grade chemistry teacher told us a yarn about a truck driver who drank Coke all day long. One day he went over a bump and his stomach exploded. This teacher was kind of a joker, though, so I never quite believed him.
As noted above, Coke syrup can calm the tummy. Around about 1973 I came down with the worst case of food poisoning ever. All I could ingest for almost a week was Coca Cola syrup which, at that time, you could purchase at any pharmacy. I wonder if you still can…
It hasn’t contained more than trace amounts of cocaine since 1904 so I guess the answer is, “not anymore.”
Coffee can lay claim to potential health benefits far more than Coke.
“Coffee contains many components, including caffeine, chlorogenic acid, diterpenes and trigonelline. Studies have found that coffee polyphenols, such as chlorogenic acids, have many health-promoting properties, such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, anti-diabetes, and antihypertensive properties. Chlorogenic acids may exert protective effects against metabolic syndrome risk through their antioxidant properties, in particular toward vascular endothelial cells, in which nitric oxide production may be enhanced, by promoting endothelial nitric oxide synthase expression. These effects indicate that coffee components may support the maintenance of normal endothelial function and play an important role in the prevention of metabolic syndrome.”
Some of the putative benefits of moderate coffee drinking (lowered risk of Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s, for instance) are at least somewhat controversial, and I don’t know of comparable studies done on possible polyphenols/antioxidants in Coke. But based on what we know currently, coffee can be said to be healthier than Coke, even when you eliminate sugar from the equation.
It’s got calories. Depending on your situation, that could be helpful (or, in the situation most of us are in, more harmful).
And it’s got water. Again, could definitely be very helpful in the right situation (though again, for most of us, there are healthier ways to get water).
It’s got caffeine, but I don’t know of any situations where that would be a direct health benefit.
As always, the question is, compared to what? I can imagine a healthy person, maybe in an environment where they sweat a lot, who gets most of their hydration from Coke. Cut that person off of the Coke, and don’t replace it with anything else, and they probably won’t stay healthy. Replace it with water, though, or with something with electrolytes (and preferably low sugar), and they’ll probably do even better.
Adding to Jackmanni’s comments on the beneficial effects of coffee, is this study indicating increased mortality in people drinking two or more glasses of soft drink per day.
And here’s a less exacting, but wider-ranging article that touches on several other studies showing harmful effects.
I’ve not seen equally convincing evidence for the detrimental effects of coffee. This article at Healthline.comsays:
An important 2012 study on coffee consumption in 402,260 people aged 50–71 observed that those who drank the most coffee were significantly less likely to have died during the 12–13-year study period.
The sweet spot appeared to be a coffee intake of 4–5 cups per day. At this quantity, men and women had a 12% and 16 % reduced risk of early death, respectively. Drinking 6 or more cups per day provided no additional benefit.
So, Coke doesn’t seem as healthy as “coffee and beer”… unless you meant coffee and beer mixed together. I’ve seen no studies on that.
Oh, yes. I have a couple fifths of rum in the liquor cabinet. Once all the scotch, vodka, etc is gone, I’ll buy some coke and start on the rum.