Pepsi Or Coke

[Thyrzul]

I thought you would believe experts, but you still have the right to know in details, so here you go.

You thought it correctly, I do believe experts, I just don't believe random ppl trying to justify what they say by starting it with "According to experts" instead of actual citation.

After 1 hour - Phosphoric acid binds calcium, magnesium and zinc in the gastrointestinal tract, which supercharges metabolism. Releasing of calcium through urine also rises.
After more than 1 hour - Diuretic effect of the drink enters in “the game”. The calcium, magnesium and zinc are removed out of the organism, which are a part of our bones, as well as sodium. At this time we have already become irritable or subdued. The whole quantity of water, contained in a coca cola, is removed by the urine.

If all it does is binding said elements in the gastrointestinal tract it only prevents currently digested calcium, magnesium and zinc from entering our bloodstream, but it won't remove anything from anywhere else, definitely not out of our bones if it won't even get anywhere near them. Either it indeed doesn't or it does enter our bloodstream, either way the presented information contradicts itself.

Aqua Carbonated – this is sparkling water. It stirs gastric secretion, increases the acidity of the gastric juice and provokes flatulency – plenty evolution of gases. Furthermore, spring water is not used, but is used regular filtered water.

H2CO3 is one of the weakest acids, our stomach has HCl, I dare you to detect the increase of acidity. Sure it develops a lot of gases, the molecule is so unstable it easily dissolves into H2O and CO2. Note: Because it's essentially the weakest acid in our body, carbonic acid is the last station of the neutralization (de-acidification) process of our body, past that it dissolves and we kinda exhale that CO2.

E952 – Sodium Cyclamate is a sugar substitute. Cyclamate is a synthetic chemical, has sweet taste, which is 200 times sweeter than sugar, and is used as an artificial sweetener. In 1969 it was banned by FDA, since it as well as saccharin and aspartame, caused cancer in rats’ urinary bladder. In 1975, prohibition seized also Japan, South Korea and Singapore. In 1979, WHO (World Health Organization), “who knows why?” rehabilitated cyclamates and recognizing them as safe.

I have found no info about WHO rehabilitating it, rather found info about various countries treating this substance differently, so some citation would be handy. This "who knows why?" mentality is weak as well, if one is curious enough the reasons can be always found.

E950 – Acesulfame Potassium. 200 times sweeter than sugar, containing methyl ether, where it aggravates the operation of the cardiovascular system. Likewise, it contains asparaginic acid which can also cause excitant effect on our nervous system and in time it can lead to addiction. Acesulfame is badly dissolved and is not recommended for use by children and pregnant women.

I'm not sure how it contains methyl ether, I mean it sure does have a certain part of the molecule resembling that, but with that logic we coould even claim regular fat also contains methyl ether as it has parts resembling it. Not really convincing. it doesn't contain aspartic (yes, in English it's aspartic) acid either, that one is an amino acid, a building block of our proteins, looks totally different and is unrelated to K-acesulfame. Though I saw the previous point mentioning FDA in a context implying it is some sort of reliable authority in questions like this, let me note how FDA approved the general use of Ace K, so nothing to fear here. It's even used in pharmaceutical products.

E951 – Aspartame. A sugar substitute for diabetics and is chemically unstable: at elevated temperature it breaks down into methanol and phenylalanine. Methanol is very dangerous: 5-10ml can cause destruction of the optic nerve and irreversible blindness. In warm soft drinks, aspartame transforms into formaldehyde which is very strong carcinogen. Some number of cases with aspartame poisoning include: unconsciousness, headaches, fatigue, dizziness, nausea, palpitation, weight gain, irritability, anxiety, memory loss, blurry vision, fainting, joint pains, depression, fertility, hearing loss and etc. Aspartame can also provoke the following diseases: brain tumors, MS (Multiple Sclerosis), epilepsy, Graves’ disease, chronic fatigue, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, mental deficiency and tuberculosis.

It's environment must be very alkaline or acidic to hydrolyse that CH3-O- group off, hydrolysis of the peptide bond requires even harsher circumstances. No, your stomach may be acidic, but not that acidic, pepsine isn't almighty either. Aspartame doesn't transform into formaldehyde either, methanol would if it would hydrolyse off first, in fact during methanol poisoning it's actually formaldehyde which is essentially a cell poison (anaerob circumstances inside the body make methanol oxydize down only to formaldehyde, in test tube it can go all the way to formic acid). The list is nice, but would be perfect with an actual source so I know where you found all these bullcrap.

E338 – Orthophosphoric Acid. This can cause irritation of skin and eyes. It is used for production of phosphoric acid salts of ammonia, sodium, calcium, aluminum and also in organic synthesis for production of charcoal and film tapes, for production of refractory materials, ceramics, glass, fertilizers, synthetic detergents, medicine, metalworking, and textile and oil industries. Food orthophosphoric acid is used in the production of carbonated water and for preparation of ingredients in pastry. It is known that orthophosphoric acid interfere with the absorption of calcium and iron from the body, which can cause weakening of bones and osteoporosis. Other side effects are thirst and skin rashes.

H3PO4 is among the moderately corrosive inorganic acids, if you think it's bad to your health, try drinking H2SO4, I guarantee you won't complain more about phosphoric acid... ever... In all seriousness, dissociation coefficients are just part of the acidity (and it doesn't even drop all 3 protons that easily), another thing is concentration, if it's diluted well enough, it's harmless. What other uses of it having any relevance to this specific topic is beyond me though, just like how it's used in making carbonated water... I mean, wouldn't you need carbonic acid for that instead? Also, guess what binds together all the ribose molecules in RNA and dezoxyribose molecules in DNA. You guessed right, orthophosphate groups.

I'll give you one thing though, there are indeed some bad effects of phosphoric acid. One of the main structural minerals of the enamel of your teeth is apatite, mainly hydroxylapatite, which means that in Ca5(PO4)3X the X is an OH- complex ion, which if gets protonated - and in an acidic environment it can easily get protonated - the resulting water molecule gets washed out easily, weakening the structure of the outer protective layer of your teeth. That's why you feel a certain unique sensation on them after drinking soda. What to do? Sure, not drinking soda is a solution, but what if I want to? Don't brush teeth right afterwards, mechanical effects can harm the weakened structure of the enamel and accelerate tooth decay. However once the pH in your mouth is restored you can brush your teeth. Thankfully more modern toothpastes contain fluoring agents, which switch the OH- to a F- ion, and fluorapatite can't be protonated as easily as hydroxylapatite.

E211 – Sodium Benzoate. It is used in production of some food products, as an anti-bacterial and anti-fungal agent. These products refer to jams, fruit juices and fruit yoghurts. It’s not recommended for use by asthmatics and people who are sensitive to aspirin. A study conducted by Peter Piper at the Sheffield University in Britain, found that this compound causes significant damage to DNA. According to his words, sodium benzoate which is an active component in preservatives doesn’t destroy DNA, but deactivating it. This can lead to cirrhosis and degenerative diseases like Parkinson’s disease.

Sodium benzoate is a salt of benzoic acid, which can be found in traces in a lot of fruits. Prof. Peter W. Piper's research claims it may cause problems with mithocondrial DNA. In case it does, ATP generation is likely to malfunction, triggering apoptosis for the entire cell. Nothing serious. FDA again regards sodium-benzoate as safe for general use.

So, what turns out?

Well, it turns out that one can find lot of bullcrap filled with plenty of misconceptions and a lot of exaggeration on the internet and people aren't afraid of resorting to them to support their agenda instead of doing their own research, educating themselves, or at least trying to hold their ground only in fields of their own profession/competence. I'm still curious about your sources though, albeit it looks like only one source from where you just copypastad stuff out, god forbid it turning out to be one of those random sites with a catchy name and a good few conspiracy theories with little to no basis to them.

---