Dagtastic

First let me just say Coke is really misleading the public. Sugary, caffeinated beverages are AWFUL for rehydration, in fact, Caffeine and sugar are both diuretics, which means they speed up the excretion of water (not to mention the calcium loss and dental erosion). So, if you need the calories and the energy boost, grab a sugary soda, if you need to rehydrate, grab a sports drink, juice or some water. You will be much better off….but I digress…

Well, lets see…why don’t we start with the basic Nutrition Information:

Serving size: 1 Can

This is an improvement, remember when a serving size was 1/2 a can…who drinks 1/2 a can of soda and says…man that was great,but there’s just too much soda…I can’t possibly drink all this soda!)

Calories Per Serving: 0

% Daily Value

Total Fat 0g 0%

Sodium 40mg 2%

Total Carbs 0g 0%

Protien 0g 0%

So, from a nutrition standpoint, Sodas are a “no nutrition” or even better, a “negative nutrition” supplement. Basically sodas should be considered a stimulant delivery system.

OK, so now that we know what my body is currently dealing with, lets carry on to the:

Ingredients

Carbonated Water

Ok, nothing to special about this. Water is good for you and actually, who doesn’t love a nice Pellegrino now and again?

Carmel Color

Essentially a colloid that is prepared by heating carbohydrate sources, like corn, burning sugar…anyway, so far so good, everything is all natural.

Phosphoric Acid (H3PO4)

Um…yum? Believe or not, this is used to purposefully acidify your beverage. Acids are bitter and tangy in flavor so this is a good cheap source of that note. Phosphoric acid is also excellent at destroying your tooth enamel, and encapsulating minerals in your body, facilitating their removal. Good stuff like Calcium is collected and removed in your urine…in fact phosphate based sodas are linked to Kidney Stone occurrence in males…so drink up!)

Aspartame

(This is Nutrasweet, plain and simple. The structure is below, and if you are paying attention in class, you will see that there are two chiral centers, both of which are S)

Potasium Benzoate (to protect the taste)

This is a fairly common food preservative that breaks down the fermentation process in cells. So all the bugs that get into your drink, provided that they find something they like to eat and survive the acidic environment can’t sour your food by excreting all the nasty fermentation products, that we love so well elsewhere.

Natural Flavors

Well who knows…this could be an assortment of things, the recipe no doubt held very tight to the vest by some old wizardly man at coke Inc.

Potassium Citrate

Ah general chemistry at work. Basically Potassium Citrate is a buffer in this application. Soda’s are quite acidic and this is enables the beverage to stay in a pH range that keeps all the additives safe and warm, and keeps the beverage from burning you. Ironically Potassium Citrate is also found to be a useful treatment for kidney stones! I wonder if this was planned?

Acesulfame Potassium

Apparently this is another artificial sweetner, with a sweetness on par with Aspartame.

Caffeine (34 mg/12 fl oz.)

and last but not least…this is the real reason you crave that phosphoric acid taste:

You can find this in almost every soda on the market, Coffee, Tea…in fact most Americans (around 90%) consume it in some form or another…daily.

and in Big Bold Lettering

PHENYLKETONURICS: CONTAINS PHENYLALANINE

What does this mean! Well a Phenylketonuric is a person who is allergic to Phenylalanine. Where does the Phenylalanine come from? Phenylalanine is one of the products resulting from the metabolic breakdown of Aspartame in the body.

So that’s whats in my can of Coke Zero!

Its the Chiral Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!

Pumpkins 2007!

I sincerely hope this is as great as it looks. This also makes me want to start taking HGH…(so everybody can see how jacked and tan I am)

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