coke

Question
What component makes coke an unhealthy drink?

Answer
Hi Keerthana,

What component not!?!

I don't know the exact details (ingredients) of coke (nobody does except the bosses) but coke nowadays is just as bad as most carbohydrated, sugary drinks (sodas). I think it used to contain cocaine when first launched as a near-medicinal drink, towards the end of the 19th century, and definitely caffeine. But, I guess, there really is not an awful lot more in coke that makes it worse than the next fizzy pop. The FDA would not let companies get away with putting "bad" ingredients (as in damaging to health outrightly, or exclusively) in their products, so the term "bad" is subjective and I am not going to come down too hard on coke as an isolated foe to good health.

From my experience, the great thing about singling coke out as "bad for you", is that you get to "demonise" it better for small kids, because they generally, genuiniely, do NOT like the flavour at all when they first try it! It make your advice to them to steer well clear of it stick a little better (for a short while! Peer pressure is a terrible thing.)

It is almost as if coca cola knows their drink is actually an acquired taste, for they spend an AWFUL lot on advertising to promote it as something delicious (brain washing). The worst thing about coke  than its popularity which indoctrinates the whole world into drinking MORE non-nourishing and not particularly thirst-quenching drinks.

Here goes my intuitive reasons for making coke something to scrap from a healthy diet.
First and foremost the bad no-no ingredient of LOTS of refined sugar in "normal" (classic) coke. Otherwise, first and foremost, the artificial sweetner (maybe worse!) in zero-calorie types. Such sweetners can lower your overall energy tremendously (if measured with a super-sensible sensitivity). This can have a knock-on effect on your immune system.

Next, as bad or maybe even worse, the mysterious ingredients, which amount to a cup full of artificial flavours (E-numbers).

Coke is not alone in offering a caffeinated soft drink, which makes you hyper (seemingly energetic or happy: but that only ends in a down-fall).This is bad for blood pressure/heart and as a stimulant creates a dependency (like coffee).

Perhaps, energy drinks and Red Bull-like drinks need to be put right up there next to or ahead of coke if you want to list the top worst drinks, when it comes to a healthy and holistic diet. These drinks simply contain substances which have been proven to influence health negatively and cause obeseity. But particularly from a holistic point of view, coke is bad for the soul, because it only satisfies a superficial sense experience and offers nothing more than a quick-fix pep. When you analyse the adverstising of coke and the other fizzy drinks made by the same companies, you can tell they play ONLY to your fantasy world.

Food and drink should really always be creating pathways between your inner and outer world: it is unwise to make this outerworld a glitzy paradise with cheap thrills, and your inner world a hall of mirrors filled with simple, one-dimensional (self-satisfying) sensations.

Keep relating to what you eat, by understanding the products' real LIFE story (organic, or home-pressed apple juice  comes from a tree, in a field, in the wind, near a lake where dragonflies flit and nymphs dance....). A "natural diet" helps you stay in tune with and pool from cosmic and earthbound force. Despite claims to containing "natural" ingredients (yes, the water perhaps), coke as an over-processed product does not contribute to your life in such a manner.

Drinking coke may not kill you, and there are many, many other legitimate toxic products on supermarket shelves to rival this beverage (canned foods, microwave dinners, sauces in bottles, you name it), but intelligent people nowadays do give it a second thought whether or not coke is really "it".

If you do drink coke, then make sure you really enjoy IT and not some image or fixed idea in your head of it. Like with cigarettes and alcohol, just do not ever offer it to kids if you can possibly help it. You will be doing them no favours - there are other treats that make them happier in the long run. Sadly, though, when on the go, or stuck for party ideas, a coke makes for an easy solution. But is this a sensible, loving choice to make?

Hope I informed you a bit from a holistic perspective.
With my very best wishes,
Evelyn.  

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