# Hydration from Coca Cola? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 11, 2008, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hydration-from-coca-cola/448934 "2008-05-11T17:00:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mrs\_Johnson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7cd45c/32.png) [@Mrs\_Johnson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrs_Johnson)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2008, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hydration-from-coca-cola/448934/1 "2008-05-11T17:00:56Z")
I saw some statement on the side of a 24 pack of regular Coke basically saying that even though it’s soda, you still get hydrated from drinking it. Is this true? Wouldn’t the sugar, caffeine and whatever other unhealthy stuff in Coke negate any possible health benefits? This _seems_ ridiculous. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2008, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hydration-from-coca-cola/448934/2 "2008-05-11T17:06:18Z")
[QUOTE=Mrs Johnson] I saw some statement on the side of a 24 pack of regular Coke basically saying that even though it’s soda, you still get hydrated from drinking it. Is this true? Wouldn’t the sugar, caffeine and whatever other unhealthy stuff in Coke negate any possible health benefits? This _seems_ ridiculous. :dubious: [/QUOTE] You’ll get hydrated because of the water in it. Whether the sugar, caffeine, etc. is good for you is a completely different issue. ---
**Author:** ![Szlater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@Szlater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Szlater)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2008, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hydration-from-coca-cola/448934/3 "2008-05-11T17:06:28Z")
[QUOTE=Mrs Johnson] I saw some statement on the side of a 24 pack of regular Coke basically saying that even though it’s soda, you still get hydrated from drinking it. Is this true? Wouldn’t the sugar, caffeine and whatever other unhealthy stuff in Coke negate any possible health benefits? This _seems_ ridiculous. :dubious: [/QUOTE] Even with all the sugar and other ingredients your body will have a net gain in water. You can quite easily survive drinking nothing but Coke (you won’t die of dehydration, you might get a bit fat though). ETA: Beaten to it! ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2008, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hydration-from-coca-cola/448934/4 "2008-05-11T17:53:18Z")
[QUOTE=Mrs Johnson] I saw some statement on the side of a 24 pack of regular Coke basically saying that even though it’s soda, you still get hydrated from drinking it. Is this true? Wouldn’t the sugar, caffeine and whatever other unhealthy stuff in Coke negate any possible health benefits? This _seems_ ridiculous. :dubious: [/QUOTE] In that can is maybe a half a dozen grams of sugar and a gram or so of other flavorings, the other 95%+ is all water…the stuff of hydration. Also..sugar is not unhealthy per se, our bodies know how to process it very efficently. ALOT of sugar over time can cause problems but its basically just carbohydrates we burn for food. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2008, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hydration-from-coca-cola/448934/5 "2008-05-11T18:08:49Z")
[QUOTE=Mrs. Johnson] …Wouldn’t the sugar, caffeine and whatever other unhealthy stuff in Coke negate any possible health benefits?.. [/QUOTE] Just relax, **Mrs. Johnson**. Sit down. There’s something I have to tell you. Coca-Cola® is not poisonous. There is a mountain of folklore about Coke®. It’s nonsense, **Mrs. Johnson**. The mighty Snopes database has a big Coke wing. Look at the label. It’s mostly water, from the city where it was bottled. There’s sugar, to make it sweet. There’s nothing evil about sugar. You can adjust the rest of your diet to work around the calories you drink for fun. There’s caffeine, to help you stay awake and enthusiastic. That won’t hurt you, either. Its diuretic effect is small, especially if your body has become accustomed to it. You certainly won’t get dehydrated by drinking 20 oz. of flavored water. Everything else in Coke is there to make it taste like it does, and to make it that color. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2008, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hydration-from-coca-cola/448934/6 "2008-05-11T18:23:34Z")
If Coke is the worst thing you ever ingest, you are doing great. Have a Coke and a smile. People were drinking Coke long before the nation blew up on oversized portions. Diet coke is about to outsell regular coke, and yet the USA is one fatass nation. Hey, Mean Joe Green rehydrated himself on it decades ago, and that’s good enough for me. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2008, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hydration-from-coca-cola/448934/7 "2008-05-11T23:22:18Z")
Glucose and sodium actually increase the amount of water the body can absorb, but, > [@](#): > > The availability of ingested fluids is limited by the rate at which the stomach empties and the rate of intestinal absorption. Stomach emptying of fluids is slowed by the addition of carbohydrate in proportion to the carbohydrate concentration and osmolarity (total dissolved particle concentration) of the drink. The carbohydrate is usually in the form of glucose or glucose polymers (maltodextrins). With increasing glucose concentration, the rate of fluid volume delivery to the small intestine is decreased, but the rate of glucose delivery is increased. Water absorption in the small intestine is by osmosis and is promoted by the coupled transport of glucose and sodium. > > Hence, the composition of fluids to be used during exercise will depend on the relative needs to replace water and to provide fuel substrate. Where rehydration is the main priority (e.g. for prolonged exercise in the heat), the solution should contain some carbohydrate as glucose or glucose polymers (20-60 g/l) and sodium (20-60 mmol/l) and should not exceed isotonicity. An isotonic drink is one that has the same osmolarity as the blood plasma (290 mosmol/l). Hypotonic drinks have an osmolarity less than this and hypertonic drinks have an osmolarity greater than this. For example, famous brands of cola-flavoured drinks have an osmolarity of about 600 mosmol/l. These are unsuitable for most forms of exercise, as water will actually be drawn from the circulation into the gut before any significant net fluid absorption occurs. Another problem is the fizzy nature of the drinks which can cause gastrointestinal upset during exercise.[RIGHT][CITE](http://www.medicdirectsport.com/sportsnutrition/default.asp?step=4&pid=91)[/RIGHT] so while Coke will hydrate you, it’s not the best choice if your actually dehydrated. This was all discovered during the development of treatments for severe dehydration from acute diarrhea and resulted in oral rehydration salts ([ORS](http://www.unicef.org/sowc96/joral.htm)). CMC +fnord! ---
**Author:** ![Ender\_Will](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Ender\_Will](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ender_Will)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hydration-from-coca-cola/448934/8 "2008-05-12T01:42:21Z")
Straying a bit from the OP (which seems to have been answered)… I’ve noticed ad copy on Coke packages saying that “all beverages hydrate” or something to that effect. I’m having a hard time believing that, say, pure ethanol hydrates you. Or sea water, but that’s not what I’m curious about. First off, am I right in my assumption that pure 200 proof alcohol will dehydrate you? Secondly, if it does, what’s the break-even point for alcoholic beverages as a means to hydrate? 80 proof? 13%? 4%? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hydration-from-coca-cola/448934/9 "2008-05-12T02:25:34Z")
When I went on a four-day whitewater raft trip, the company running it provided cases of Coke and suggested we drink plenty to keep hydrated. Of course, water would be better (and we had plenty of it), but I suspect they observed that people more readily drank soft drinks than plain water. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hydration-from-coca-cola/448934/10 "2008-05-12T02:42:30Z")
[QUOTE=Ender\_Will] First off, am I right in my assumption that pure 200 proof alcohol will dehydrate you? [/quote] It _can_. That doesn’t mean that it _does_. > [@](#): > > Secondly, if it does, what’s the break-even point for alcoholic beverages as a means to hydrate? 80 proof? 13%? 4%? That’s very complicated and depends on many factors, most importantly how well hydrated you were to start with, how much you drink, how active you are while drinking, how fast you drink and how well conditioned your liver is to being dosed with alcohol. In grossly simplified terms: Your body’s first option when confronted with alcohol is to burn it for fuel. Alcohol is just a food like all others and your body doesn’t want to waste it if possible. That’s where your activity level comes in. If you are drinking your alcohol at the same rate that your body is burning energy then it won’t dehydrate you at all. Even if you are drinking absolute ethanol you still won’t become dehydrated if you are drinking slowly and steadily and enough for it to burn. The harder you work while drinking the faster it is burned, but even just normal metabolic processes will allow you to burn something in the order of 1/4 of a drink every hour. Alcohol differs from other foods int hat the body can’t convert it to fat. If it isn’t burned immediately it starts to build up in the bloodstream and posion you, so what the body can’t burn it tries to turn into something that isn’t as poisonous. A professional pisspot has trained his liver to to detoxify a lot of alcohol very fast, and the body uses relatively little water to remove the detoxified alcohol. In contrast a teetotaller’s liver is totally untrained and their body will have to flush the alcohol out of the body as alcohol, and that uses alot of water. To complicate that still further alcohol is a diuretic in its won right, so as alcohol levesl build up in the bloodtream you will urinate more and lose more water. So once again if you are drink slowly enough for the body to cope with the alcohol, either by burning it or detoxifying it, you minimise that diuretic effect. And then there si the added factor that as you become dehydrated, even slightly, your body seithces to amore efficient mositure retention mode, so a person who was dehydrated to start with will actually lose less water to alcohol than a person who was fully or overhydrated to start with. So as you can see there is no simple answer. A well muscled alcoholic man in cold conditions who was mildly deydrated to start with could sit and sip neat whiskey all night without losing any additional eater. In contrast a small woman teetotaller who drank four light beers in an hour would dehydrate severely and wake up with a horrendous hangover. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hydration-from-coca-cola/448934/11 "2008-05-12T06:40:59Z")
I suppose that drinking nothing but strong expresso could _possibly_ dehydrate you due to the high caffiene content. But I have doubts. Certainly Coke is fine. I went on a fishing trip in Baja and drank nothing but sugaered soda or beer \*for a month. \* Note that the Coke with pure sugar might be slightly better than the newer stuff with HFCS. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hydration-from-coca-cola/448934/12 "2008-05-12T07:02:50Z")
[QUOTE=DrDeth] I suppose that drinking nothing but strong expresso could _possibly_ dehydrate you due to the high caffiene content. But I have doubts. [/quote] According tot he authorities cited by snopes your body adjusts to caffeine very rapidly so any normal coffee can’t dehydrate anybody who is unaccustomed to caffeine. > [@](#): > > Note that the Coke with pure sugar might be slightly better than the newer stuff with HFCS. I ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hydration-from-coca-cola/448934/13 "2008-05-12T07:04:55Z")
[QUOTE=DrDeth] I suppose that drinking nothing but strong expresso could _possibly_ dehydrate you due to the high caffiene content. But I have doubts. [/quote] According to the authorities cited by Snopes your body adjusts to caffeine very rapidly so any normal coffee can’t dehydrate anybody who is unaccustomed to caffeine. Maybe if someone who had never drunk caffeine started living on strong double espressos and dry biscuit, but inthe real world it’s not an issue. > [@](#): > > Note that the Coke with pure sugar might be slightly better than the newer stuff with HFCS. I can’t see why it should be. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hydration-from-coca-cola/448934/14 "2008-05-12T16:33:57Z")
[QUOTE=Blake] I can’t see why it should be. [/QUOTE] From Pollan’s “IN Defense of Food”, pg 112 “Fructose is metabolized differently from glucose, the body doesn’t respond to it by producing insulin to convey it into cells to be used as Energy. Rather, it is metabolized in the liver, which turns it first into glucose and then, if there is no call for glucose, into Triglycerides-- fat.” HFCS has a lower satiety rating than sugar also. This is one reason why soft-drink companies have switched to it, according to some. Of course sucrose is 50% fructose, but the other half is glucose. I am not saying that HFCS is the devils joy juice, but overall, Sugar/sucrose seems to be a tad better for ones health. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hydration-from-coca-cola/448934/15 "2008-05-12T23:50:04Z")
[QUOTE=DrDeth] From Pollan’s “IN Defense of Food”, pg 112 “Fructose is metabolized differently from glucose, the body doesn’t respond to it by producing insulin to convey it into cells to be used as Energy. Rather, it is metabolized in the liver, which turns it first into glucose and then, if there is no call for glucose, into Triglycerides-- fat.” [/quote] Well that simply isn’t true. Fructose is [taken up directly by muscle cells and used for energy](http://jap.physiology.org/cgi/content/abstract/69/4/1244), exactly as glucose is. So I’m assuming Pollan is a quack with some barrow to push. But for the sake of argment let’s assume what he said was actually true. So what? How does that in any way affect the hydration capability of a fructose solution? > [@](#): > > HFCS has a lower satiety rating than sugar also. This is one reason why soft-drink companies have switched to it, according to some. WTF? They have a lower satiety rating, so you consume more of a solution containing them, and thus consume more water. And this somehow _decreases_ their hydration effect? How the heck did you “reason” this one out? > [@](#): > > I am not saying that HFCS is the devils joy juice, but overall, Sugar/sucrose seems to be a tad better for ones health. In fact exactly the opposite appears to be true. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hydration-from-coca-cola/448934/16 "2008-05-13T00:38:26Z")
[QUOTE=Canadjun] You’ll get hydrated because of the water in it. [/QUOTE] I recall someone on the SDMB once said that sugar gives off moisture when digested by the body. If that’s true, then I suppose the sugar is hydrating as well? ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hydration-from-coca-cola/448934/17 "2008-05-13T00:49:45Z")
[QUOTE=Mrs Johnson] This _seems_ ridiculous. :dubious: [/QUOTE] Why on earth does it seem ridiculous? Coke is largely water, as has been stated. Of course it will hydrate you. “Hydrate” does not necessarily mean “nourish in a healthy manner”, of course, but yeah - it’s a drink, it’ll hydrate you. A lot of BS is spouted to the effect that tea and coffee (and soda) “don’t count” as part of your daily fluid intake. Well that’s utter nonsense. My daily fluid intake is almost (but not quite) entirely tea. I haven’t turned into a shrivelled husk yet. As for “pure 200 proof alcohol” - well, that won’t hydrate you much, as “pure” alcohol contains no water. (Well actually it is about 4% water IIRC, as it forms a constant-boiling mixture so you can’t distill it any purer than that). I’m curious too about what level of alcohol will allow adequate hydration. I doubt whether wine at 12% by volume would be much good, but I’m pretty sure beer at 4% would keep you hydrated, just going from personal experience. ---
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hydration-from-coca-cola/448934/18 "2008-05-13T01:04:38Z")
[QUOTE=Blake] WTF? They have a lower satiety rating, so you consume more of a solution containing them, and thus consume more water. And this somehow _decreases_ their hydration effect? How the heck did you “reason” this one out? [/QUOTE] Can’t see where **DrDeth** says the switch has to do with hydration… wouldn’t the economic advantage of a lower satiety rating be that the punters buy the more expensive super-size? ---
**Author:** ![Obsidian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/51bf81/32.png) [@Obsidian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Obsidian)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hydration-from-coca-cola/448934/19 "2008-05-13T05:10:46Z")
I recall being told my a nurse (I have friends that have been told this, too) that caffeine negates any hydration you get from soda, tea, etc, so those beverages don’t count. I was in with the flu and she wanted to know how many glasses of water I drank a day. When I said I only drank tea, she insisted it was like having nothing at all, and lectured me. Lady, if that was true, I haven’t had more than a few swigs of water in months and should be dead. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hydration-from-coca-cola/448934/20 "2008-05-13T06:11:25Z")
[QUOTE=Blake] Well that simply isn’t true. Fructose is [taken up directly by muscle cells and used for energy](http://jap.physiology.org/cgi/content/abstract/69/4/1244), exactly as glucose is. So I’m assuming Pollan is a quack with some barrow to push. But for the sake of argment let’s assume what he said was actually true. So what? How does that in any way affect the hydration capability of a fructose solution? . [/QUOTE] Micheal Pollan is quite well respected: > **[In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto: Pollan, Michael: 9781594201455:...](https://www.amazon.com/Defense-Food-Eaters-Manifesto/dp/1594201455)** > > In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto \[Pollan, Michael\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto > **[The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals: Pollan, Michael:...](https://www.amazon.com/Omnivores-Dilemma-Natural-History-Meals/dp/0143038583)** > > The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals \[Pollan, Michael\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals > **[Michael Pollan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Pollan)** > > Michael Kevin Pollan (/ˈpɒlən/; born February 6, 1955) is an American journalist, specializing in food, who is a professor and the first Lewis K. Chan Arts Lecturer at Harvard University. Concurrently, he is the Knight Professor of Science and Environmental Journalism and the director of the Knight Program in Science and Environmental Journalism at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism where in 2020 he co-founded the UC Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics, in which he le Pol... The OP had been asked and answered. I meant in a nutritional way, as \*\*Apollyon \*\*surmised. Sorry I wasn’t more clear. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hydration-from-coca-cola/448934.md?page=2)