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Coca-Cola Joins Fight Against Obesity Epidemic

The estimate that two-thirds of Americans are obese is a statistic that doesn’t even need to be repeated anymore because it has been echoed over and over. In fact, the problem has become such a large epidemic that even Coca-Cola of all companies has joined the anti-obesity crusade.

Coca-Cola, the manufacturer of the world’s most popular and sugar-laden soft drink, has pledged its commitment to curb the rising rate of obesity among adults and children by launching an ad campaign to reinforce its efforts to work with the government and communities to find real-world solutions to reducing America’s growing waistline.

The ad points out that of its 650 beverage products, 180 of them offer zero or reduced calories. The ad was a response to increased attacks made by health advocates against the beverage company, which was led mostly by the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

Back in October, the CSPI released its own animated short film known as “The Real Bears,” which was aimed at mocking Coca-Cola’s polar bear mascot and urged Americans to ditch sodas and other sugary beverages.

Coca-Cola refuted CSPI’s video and stated that the real key to combating obesity is to cut back on calories, no matter where the source of the calories comes from. CSPI, however, fired back and said that Coca-Cola only released its own ad to protect its own image and has no real intention or interest of fighting national obesity.

CSPI did, however, concede that soda, if consumed in moderation, can be a part of a healthy diet. It added that the problem is the fact that people are now guzzling soda in huge containers on nearly a daily basis. This is something that even Coca-Cola has agreed on and has pledged to address through the release of new portion-controlled sizes.

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Coca-Cola Co. Pleases Taste Buds and the Planet

New Coca-Cola Vending MachineCoca-Cola Co. seems to be saying “Love Mother Earth” with their new vending machine that chills soft drinks and the planet at the same time.

Most vending machines, you see, rely on a certain type of refrigerant known as hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), you may have learned about these little devils in high-school. They are a chemical with power to cool the air, but they can also be 1,430 times more harmful to the climate than carbon dioxide.

For this, Coca-Cola’s new refrigerant of choice is CO2 indeed.

The publication of the Velders Report in 2009, predicted a dramatic rise in HFC use due to steady growth in the refrigeration industry. The report mentions natural alternatives, including CO2, ammonia, and hydrocarbons (propane and isobutene).

CO2 removes heat from the air; this makes it a natural refrigerant. As it evaporates, it also absorbs the heat, chilling the air inside the machine. CO2 must be used at a much higher pressure than other refrigerants, necessitating stronger pipes.

After Coca-Cola realized that the largest part of its carbon footprint, 40%, came from its refrigeration equipment, it started testing HFC-free technologies debuted its first climate-friendly machine in 2002.

PepsiCo also installed 35 new, HFC-free vending machines in Miami just before the Super Bowl. These use hydrocarbons — like propane and butane — refrigerants which are already popular in Europe. The Ben & Jerry’s ice cream company is launching its own version of this technology at stores in the Washington, D.C., and Boston areas. Also, General Electric is seeking approval to sell home-use refrigerators in the U.S. using a hydrocarbon refrigerant.

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Health Cop: “Stop Soda Pop!”

soda popA world famous expert on alternative medicine, Dr. Maoshing Ni recently did a study on the health pros and cons of soft drinks. For the category of cons, he found a lot, for pros not so much.

First of all, they just about always contain little to no vitamins or other essential nutrients known in a healthy diet. And the caffeine, carbonation, simple sugars, sugar substitutes and other additives and preservatives which they do contain, can in fact do damage to one’s health.

In fact, tooth decay, heart disease, type-2 diabetes, nutritional depletion and obesity in young children is often caused by an unhealthy diet, consisting of a soft drink overdose.

Also, if you were thinking that diet or sugar-free soda is a better health choice, think again. While the sugar overdose risk is cut in half with diet drinks, the sugar substitutes used in them is equally unhealthy. For instance, saccharin has been found to be a carcinogenic.

Aspartame, or nutrasweet, tricks the brain into thinking that it is sweet. It breaks down into acpartic acid, or phenylalanine and methanol at 86 degrees. This is bad because your tummy is usually about 98 degrees.

Breaking it down:
Sugar: The USDA recommendation for sugar consumption is about 2,000 calories per day. Most soft drinks contain more than this.

Dr Mao says:

“When you drink sodas that are packed with simple sugars, the pancreas is called upon to produce and release insulin, a hormone that empties the sugar in your blood stream into all the tissues and cells for usage. The result of overindulging in simple sugar is raised insulin levels. Raised blood insulin levels beyond the norm can lead to depression of the immune system, which in turn weakens your ability to fight disease.”

Too much sugar also results in weight gain and increases the risk of heart disease and cancer.

Carbonation:
Carbonated beverages contain phosphoric acid, which depletes the blood calcium level. This is bad for the bones and can eventually cause osteoporosis.
As for the risks incurred with overdosing on caffeine, well, you can probably make a nice educated guess.

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Avoiding Soft Drink Monsters

The old saying “you are what you eat (and drink)” is certainly true in today’s modern society when diet drinks and junk food have become a large part of many people’s diets. Have you ever wondered why many carbonated beverages are simply not available in most “real” whole foods stores? And this also goes for all those “junk” snack foods like most potato and corn chips, candies, and “ding-dong” type cupcakes as well.

The reason is very simple: these foods not only put on plenty of excess weight, but also load up the body with excess sodium and sugars, plus a number of chemicals (including aspartame) that can cause cancer and other diseases. And drinking large amounts of cola, either regular of diet, can eventually result in kidney stones and other problems as well.

Scientific tests have proven that most soft drinks (except natural fruit drinks) not only clause obesity and kidney problems, but can cause a dangerous mineral imbalance in the body that can result in loss of bone mass and be miss-diagnosed as osteoporosis.

Diet drinks often contain aspartame, also used extensively in non-sugar sweetener in many homes and restaurants, the chemical causes a number of disorders, including a severe reaction to people suffering from a condition known as phenylketonuria or PKU. About one in every 20,000 people are inflicted with PKU in which their bodies are unable to metabolize an amino acid known as phenylalanine, one of two amino acids present in aspartame. If sufficient amounts of phenylalanine are ingested by PKU affected people, it can result in severe reactions, including mental retardation. Even in normal people, too much aspartame can result in physical symptoms similar to multiple sclerosis, dizziness, severe headaches, and menstrual problems. And excessive ingestion of aspartame is also said to be linked to early onset of Parkinson’s disease. And of course, many soft drinks contain large amounts of caffeine.

Soft DrinksThere are many natural flavored drinks, some of them carbonated; that do not contain ingredients such as caffeine and aspartame, and do not cause the body to lose calcium or are damaging to the kidneys. Best places to find these drinks are in quality organic and whole foods stores, which also offer healthier snack foods, including those made from bananas, beets, apples and other fruits and vegetables, and that are not fried in harmful oils.

All and all, you can still satisfy your desire for a cold beverage or snack without abusing you body. As the saying goes, you truly are what you eat.

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Satire: Cola to save the world

How could Coca Cola help our environment?

The answer is simple:

  1. Cola is black. Oil is black. Can you imagine the possibilities? Environmental terrorists could silently pollute oil reserves with coca cola, therefore making people suspicious of oil, and more likely to switch to alternative sources of energy.
  2. Cola is a very acidic liquid. We all know that if we leave a coin inside a bottle of cola, it won’t be there in the morning. I’m sure we can find tons of cool uses that take advantage of this acidic property. The best one I came up with is spraying cola above the atmosphere so it could burn away the hole in the ozone layer…
  3. Deforestation is a big problem. One of the main reasons we cut down trees is to make paper. And why do we use paper? To write down information that we can’t easily remember and store in our heads. But hey, Cola contains caffeine, and caffeine improves memory performance. If we start supplying free cola to school children, they won’t have to use notebooks anymore!
  4. And last but not least: Cola is addictive. Again, mostly because of its caffeine. If we hook up endangered animals on Cola, we could make sure they return each day to our special drinking pools, and it’d be much easier for scientists to monitor their status.


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What do you think: Are there any other ways in which we could use coca cola to save the world? Or am I simply too high on cola??