What Happens to Your Body in the First Hour After Drinking a Coke
First 10 minutes:
10 teaspoons of sugar hit your system (100% of your recommended daily intake). You don’t immediately vomit from the overwhelming sweetness because phosphoric acid cuts the flavor, allowing you to keep it down.
20 minutes:
Your blood sugar spikes, causing an insulin burst. Your liver responds to this by turning any sugar it can get its hands on into fat. There is plenty of that at this particular moment.
40 minutes:
Caffeine absorption is complete. Your pupils dilate, your blood pressure rises. As a response, your liver dumps more sugar into your bloodstream. The adenosine receptors in your brain are now blocked, preventing drowsiness.
45 minutes:
Your body ups its dopamine production, stimulating the pleasure centers of your brain. This is physically the same way heroin works, by the way.
60 minutes:
Phosphoric acid binds calcium, magnesium, and zinc in your lower intestine, providing a further boost in metabolism. This is compounded by high doses of sugar and artificial sweeteners, which also increase the urinary excretion of calcium.
The caffeine’s diuretic properties come into play. It is now assured that you’ll evacuate the bonded calcium, magnesium, and zinc that was headed to your bones, as well as sodium, electrolytes, and water.
The Aftermath: What You Lose When the High Ends
As the rave inside your body dies down, you’ll start to have a sugar crash. You may become irritable and/or sluggish. You’ve also now, literally, pissed away all the water that was in the Coke—but not before infusing it with valuable nutrients your body could have used for things like hydrating your system or building strong bones and teeth.
Why Diet Coke Is No Better—And Might Be Worse
And don’t think for a second that “diet” versions of these drinks are any better. In fact, many studies show them to actually be worse than their regular counterparts. Sounds insane, right?
Well, oftentimes the body treats fake sugar like real sugar, eliciting an insulin response. Many people report huge weight loss and big health benefits just from ceasing consumption of sodas. If you still drink sodas, you might consider this.
Steps to Stop Sugar Cravings and Ditch the Habit
- Drink plenty of water during the day
- Eat often
- Eat protein with each meal
- Relax
- Go to the beach
- Have fun with your kids or with friends
- Learn to say “No” to yourself when you are tempted to drink Coke
- Check your blood sugar after you drink Coke—the high sugar level will scare you not to drink Coke next time
- Have someone responsible check up on you and encourage you whenever you don’t drink Coke