Friday, August 25, 2006

Are you still drinking Coke and Pepsi!

The issue of pesticides in Coke and Pepsi is still raging on in India. The report of Center for Science and Environment (CSE) was really alarming. Some took it as an opportunity for MNC bashings. But there are other repurcussions as well. Even Pepsi had come out with a statement that they do not say the drinks are safe for children and they never advertise their products for children. However, the Health Minister, who recently had acquired an image of monster with striking medicos, had gone on air saying there are no pesticides. I wonder how many actually believed him. We all know that politicians are no philanthropists. And our health minister, Mr. Ambumoni Ramadoss is certainly not.

I personally do not know whether the drinks have pesticides or not. But I certainly know that it is ACIDIC enough to dissolve many things. I saw it with my eye. Now my good friend Divyesh had sent me an article which says that Coke contains Phosphoric Acid and its pH value is 3.4. This is acidic enough to dissolve our bones and teeth. No wonder why Swami Ramdev keeps telling that Coke and Pepsi is the culprit for Osteoporosis, a disease of brittleness of bones. Before I tell you what else the report says, I share my own incidence.

One fine summer day last year, few of us decided to have cold drinks instead of our regular tea in the Office Canteen at Dehradun. Suddenly someone noticed some black suspended particles in his bottle. When he checked further, there were more than one such thing and some appeared as large as 2mm size. By that time few of us had finished their bottles. But those who were yet to finish were also surprised to find such black floating particles, though smaller in size. They normally go unnoticed because of dirty bottles and water condensation on them. We called the canteen operator who was also caught by surprise. He promptly told us who supplies him and even brought few more bottles from his stock. Most of them had such floating things. We planned to call some TV fellow. The canteen operator willingly gave us a bottle which had quite a lot of suspended particles. We kept it in our office. The next morning a big surprise awaited us. All those suspended things are gone -- dissolved into the drink. Since then we had stopped drinking cold drinks. God knows what goes into it.

That was my experience. Now read what my friend Divyesh has sent:

Have a look at the wrapper on a Coca-Cola 1.5 litre bottle and in the ingredients label you will find phosphoric acid in it. Minute quantities of ethylene glycol is also used (which is acknowledged in the soft drink world for making it really chill").This is popularly known as anti-freeze which prevents water from freezing at 0 degree C and instead drops it by 4-5 degrees with minute quantities. This chemical is a known slow poison in the caliber of arsenic. So, if you manage to drink about 4 liters of Coke within an hour or so, you can die. Read along and give up these dangerous things. Be natural; have flavored milks, butter milk and plain water instead of these "soft" drinks.

Guess what's the pH for soft drinks, e.g. Coke? pH 3.4! This acidity is strong enough to dissolve teeth and bones! Our human body stops building bones at the age of about 30. Soft drinks do not have any nutrition value (in terms of vitamins &minerals). It is high in sugar content, carbonic acid, chemicals i.e. colorings etc.

Some like to take cold soft drinks after each meal. Guess what's the impact? Our body needs an optimum temperature of 37degrees Celsius for digestive enzyme functioning. The temperature of cold soft drinks is very much below 37 degrees or even close to 0 degrees Celsius. This will dilute the enzymes & stress the digestive system. The food taken will not be digested. In fact it will be fermented! The fermented food produces gases, decays and becomes toxin, and gets absorbed by the intestine, circulates in the blood stream and is carried to the whole body. Hence, toxin is cumulated in other parts of the body, developing into various diseases. Think before you drink any soft drink / colas again.

Have you ever thought what you drink when you drink an aerated drink? You gulp down carbon dioxide, when nobody in the world would advise you to drink CO2. Two months back, there was a competition at Delhi University. "Who could drink the most Coke?" The winner drank 8 bottles and fainted on the spot-too much CO2 in the blood. Thereafter, the principal banned all soft drinks from the college canteen!

Imagine what these drink must be doing to your soft intestines and stomach lining!

That’s all! It has really provided some food for thought. I would request others to share your experiences.

Meanwhile if you are interested to know what the CSE report told, read it here … Pesticides in Colas

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