# Any Health Benefits To Coca-Cola? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 9, 2020, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-health-benefits-to-coca-cola/851388 "2020-04-09T01:05:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2020, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-health-benefits-to-coca-cola/851388/21 "2020-04-09T15:44:06Z")
Assuming it doesn’t dehydrate you, it can help keep you hydrated, and it will give you a slight lift, but as has already been said it is loaded with sugar, caffeine and other chemicals that you probably don’t need. Clean water is always better to drink. ---
**Author:** ![Jet\_Jaguar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jet_jaguar/32/3562_2.png) [@Jet\_Jaguar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jet_Jaguar)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2020, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-health-benefits-to-coca-cola/851388/22 "2020-04-09T15:57:29Z")
In the world of road cycling back in the days before engineered sports drinks, flat Coke was the go-to sports drink because the caffeine and sugar gave riders a quick energy boost. (FWIW, before energy gels and bars and such, Fig Newtons were the standard on-bike snack.) ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2020, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-health-benefits-to-coca-cola/851388/23 "2020-04-09T17:32:56Z")
Like all carbonated soft drinks, Coca-Cola is completely worthless and un-necessary in a healthy diet, and likely harmful. Only clever marketing has put any question to this. Any perceived benefit can most likely be found in cheaper and less harmful ways. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2020, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-health-benefits-to-coca-cola/851388/24 "2020-04-09T17:44:57Z")
Refined sugar: unmitigatedly bad for you. No up side to refined sugar. Caffeine: in moderation, the jury is still out. Carbonation:can help digestion. Is extremely bad for your teeth when combined with refined sugar. Water: good for you, no question there. Moral of story: drink coffee or tea without sweetener, or water. If you like having enamel on your teeth, particularly. ---
**Author:** ![DinoR](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dinor/32/2821_2.png) [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2020, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-health-benefits-to-coca-cola/851388/25 "2020-04-09T17:52:55Z")
> [@Baal\_Houtham](#): > > I’ve not seen equally convincing evidence for the detrimental effects of coffee. The International Agency for Research on Cancer of the World Health Organization for a long time classified coffee as a probable carcinogen. That is a category where the evidence is weak enough that you might not want to consider it _equally_ convincing. Still it is in the same category where the IARC classifies the risk from the herbicide glyphosphate/Roundup. [Indirect cite](https://www.cancer.org/latest-news/world-health-organization-says-very-hot-drinks-may-cause-cancer.html) from the American Cancer Society The good news is that they took coffee off the list in 2016. The bad news is that they replaced it on the list with very hot water. Very hot water is greater than 65C/149F. Coffee brews above those temps. Pour a fresh hot cup of coffee and start drinking it right away and it is probably carcinogenic. As it cools it loses its carcinogenic effect for most of the cup. Hot coffee might have a risk that Coke does not. Iced coffee avoids that risk. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2020, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-health-benefits-to-coca-cola/851388/26 "2020-04-09T18:04:47Z")
> [@Baal\_Houtham](#): > > Adding to **Jackmanni** ’s comments on the beneficial effects of coffee, is [this study indicating increased mortality](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/article-abstract/2749350) 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](https://www.marketwatch.com/story/drinking-two-or-more-sugary-sodas-or-sports-drinks-a-day-linked-with-early-death-especially-in-women-2019-03-18). > > I’ve not seen equally convincing evidence for the detrimental effects of coffee. This article at [Healthline.com](https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/how-coffee-makes-you-live-longer)says: > 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. I hadn’t done any actual research on the subject. I suspect some skewed results there, the cola studied combined results from sugared and artificially sweetened colas, the coffee study had no details on how much sugar was in the coffee or what else was in the coffee (besides beer i mean). If coffee does contain antioxidants than it probably is better for you than the cola within some parameters. If you are stuck with drinking Coca-Cola straight then you have no control over the parameters. Another factor is that coffee tastes and smells awful to me, seriously nauseating, and if I had to drink it regularly it might end my own and other peoples lives early. So drinking cola is much healthier for me and everyone else in my case. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2020, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-health-benefits-to-coca-cola/851388/27 "2020-04-09T20:52:53Z")
> [@74westy](#): > > It hasn’t contained more than trace amounts of cocaine since 1904 so I guess the answer is, “not anymore.” The original recipe for Coca-Cola called for an estimated 9mg of cocaine per glass. A typical hit of cocaine (line being snorted) is about 50-75mg. So yes it was in there, but not enough to get you really high from drinking one glass. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2020, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-health-benefits-to-coca-cola/851388/28 "2020-04-09T21:37:50Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > Carbonation:can help digestion. How so? ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2020, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-health-benefits-to-coca-cola/851388/29 "2020-04-09T21:52:28Z")
Apparently simple carbonated water can reduce nausea, alleviate constipation, improve swallowing, and a coupla other things. cite: [https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/carbonated-water-good-or-bad](https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/carbonated-water-good-or-bad) Also, reading a little more, turns out it isn’t just the sugar in colas that is so bad for teeth, it is also the phosphoric acid. Bad for your bones too (causes calcium to leach). Diet cokes are about as bad as sugar cokes dentally for this reason. Really, seems like colas are some of the very unhealthiest things you can drink other than alcohol. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2020, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-health-benefits-to-coca-cola/851388/30 "2020-04-09T21:54:42Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I hadn’t done any actual research on the subject. I suspect some skewed results there, the cola studied combined results from sugared and artificially sweetened colas, the coffee study had no details on how much sugar was in the coffee or what else was in the coffee (besides beer i mean). If coffee does contain antioxidants than it probably is better for you than the cola within some parameters. If you are stuck with drinking Coca-Cola straight then you have no control over the parameters. > > Another factor is that coffee tastes and smells awful to me, seriously nauseating, and if I had to drink it regularly it might end my own and other peoples lives early. So drinking cola is much healthier for me and everyone else in my case. There are a lot of other ways to get caffeine than cola and coffee, if that is what you are after. Tea, maté, cocoa, no-doz … ---
**Author:** ![Jet\_Jaguar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jet_jaguar/32/3562_2.png) [@Jet\_Jaguar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jet_Jaguar)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2020, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-health-benefits-to-coca-cola/851388/31 "2020-04-09T22:33:00Z")
Sugar isn’t evil, it’s just sugar. Sucrose, fructose, lactose, it’s all sugar. The only difference between ‘sugar’ and ‘added sugar’ is whether it’s naturally occurring or if it’s been added as an ingredient. The only thing is that it is calorie dense, but as long as you’re within your calorie budget, get an adequate mix of macronutrients, and don’t have a medical reason (like diabetes) to avoid sugars, then added refined sugars aren’t going to negatively impact your health. ---
**Author:** ![skdo23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@skdo23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skdo23)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2020, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-health-benefits-to-coca-cola/851388/32 "2020-04-09T23:49:06Z")
> [@jaycat](#): > > 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. Unless he was using all that Coke to wash down Pop Rocks candy it was likely just an urban legend. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2020, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-health-benefits-to-coca-cola/851388/33 "2020-04-10T00:55:11Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > > [@TriPolar](#): > > > > It is at least as healthy as coffee and beer. > > Coffee can lay claim to [potential health benefits](http://onemedical.com/blog/newsworthy/10-healthy-reasons-to-drink-coffee-2/) 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.”_ > > [Do Coffee Polyphenols Have a Preventive Action on Metabolic Syndrome Associated Endothelial Dysfunctions? An Assessment of the Current Evidence - PubMed](http://ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29401716) > > 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. Here’s another article on the potential benefits of coffee: > **[The latest scoop on the health benefits of coffee - Harvard Health](https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/the-latest-scoop-on-the-health-benefits-of-coffee-2017092512429)** > > ... In theory, beer provides at least some nutrients and minerals: > **[Your Complete Guide to Beer Nutrition](https://www.thespruceeats.com/beer-nutrition-information-353027)** > > Have you ever wondered what you beer might be doing to your body? Here's a break down of what's in your pint. Whereas Coke is, as previously noted, just flavored sugar water, and Diet Coke (or Coke Zero) is flavored water sweetened by a combination of artificial sweeteners that we think are harmless, as far as we know. Though I recall reading somewhere that artificially sweetened Coke may actually contribute to weight gain in ways that are not well understood. But it’s undoubtedly the right choice for those specifically looking to avoid sugar, since the amount of sugar in ordinary Coke is really quite high – nearly 40 grams (almost 10 teaspoons) in a 375 ml can. Compare that with maybe one teaspoon in a cup of coffee (I prefer around half a teaspoon). That said, I love Coke Zero and though I don’t drink it often, it’s delicious and thirst-quenching over ice. The key is not to drink it to excess. I drink a lot more bottled water than Coke. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2020, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-health-benefits-to-coca-cola/851388/34 "2020-04-10T01:15:15Z")
If I had to drink something all day long it would probably be iced tea without sugar. One of the things I have found true for me is that if I replace something with a different, healthier, food/drink that fits into the same habit, I don’t crave the ‘lost’ thing. If I don’t leave a hole where my habit was, it works. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2020, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-health-benefits-to-coca-cola/851388/35 "2020-04-10T02:07:03Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > 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. I would think phosphoric acid is not something I would want to pour into an ailing tummy. > [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > 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. Caffeine has “value” but I don’t think you would call it a health benefit. ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2020, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-health-benefits-to-coca-cola/851388/36 "2020-04-11T03:27:43Z")
When we stayed in Chiapas (southernmost Mexico) a liter of _aguardiente_ rum and a liter of anonymous cola cost less than a single 375ml can of beer. Little _limons_ were cheap too. _Cuba libre_, the breakfast of champions! I haven’t tried dissolving metals, precious or otherwise, in cola. I hear that’s a thing. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2020, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-health-benefits-to-coca-cola/851388/37 "2020-04-11T12:40:45Z")
If by “precious” metals, you mean silver, gold, and platinum, it certainly won’t work. Those are all very nonreactive. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2020, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-health-benefits-to-coca-cola/851388/38 "2020-04-11T14:09:01Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > I would think phosphoric acid is not something I would want to pour into an ailing tummy. When I was a kid the doctor would recommend Coca Cola syrup for a common tummy ache. The pharmacist would dispense it in a brown bottle with an official looking label. It seemed like it was prescription medicine although it wasn’t. But it worked. It was very soothing and tasted a hellova lot better than castor oil or other concoctions your parents could give you. It completely ended nausea. ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2020, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-health-benefits-to-coca-cola/851388/39 "2020-04-11T20:41:52Z")
My wife and I find Coca-Cola helpful to reduce seasickness on long sea journeys. We never normally drink Coke, but always buy 2 x 500 ml bottles before getting on the ferry to France. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2020, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-health-benefits-to-coca-cola/851388/40 "2020-04-12T01:31:35Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > I stick with Coke Zero, it’s my lifeblood. Clearly you haven’t tried Diet Ginger Lime. That’s Livin’! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-health-benefits-to-coca-cola/851388.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-health-benefits-to-coca-cola/851388.md?page=3)