Biologically, how does soda make you thirst for it? How about fast food?

Factual Questions
1

I’ve heard soda is designed to make you thirst for it more and more when you drink it- how so? Similarly, not having read the book Fast Food Nation yet, I’d like to ask- how exactly is it that fast food biologically gets you hooked on it?

2

Well, soda is sugary and caffeinated. Sugar is addicting, and so is caffeine. Caffeine is also a diuretic so it’s less of a quencher than water. If you are used to drinking soda, you’ll drink more soda because of the sugar and caffeine than you would drink water if you were drinking only water.

3

Wild guess: when you eat food you like your brain releases endorphins which make you feel good. Since fast food is fatty and salty it tastes good. You eat it, it tastes good, you get hooked on that subtle but delicious endorphin rush and you want more.

Another thing that might add to it, from my own experience with other people, is that people are too damn lazy to cook their own food. And so they prefer to buy packaged frozen food, or purchase ‘fast’ food since it’s so convenient. So aside from it tasting so good (to them) it requires no effort to make and is extremely cheap compared to wholesome food.

4

I heard some UL-ish story once that they put some chemical in Coca-Cola that leaves a dry sensation in the mouth, so you feel thristy after drinking it.

5

Yeah, caffeine.

6

There’s tons of sodium in soft drinks and fast food. People crave salt. And salt makes you thirsty.

7

The list of ingredients on the Pepsi can sitting on my desk does not list salt or sodium. The nutrition label says there is 35mg of sodium, that is about one grain of salt. That’s hardly enough to cause thirst.

8

I drink a lot of soda, but only diet, and usually caffeine-free. How does that relate to me and my perceived addiction?

9

I think we need to question the basic premise in the OP. Does drinking soda actually make you thirsty? In my experience, if I’m thirsty and I drink soda, I’m no longer thirsty after drinking the soda. If I’m not thirsty and I drink soda, I’m still not thirsty after drinking it.

To answer the OP: Biologically, there’s no mechanism by which soda can make you thirsty. There is nothing added to soda that will make you thirsty. Soda does not make you thirsty.