Americans drink excessive amounts of soft drinks. According to the book, "Healthy Habits," published in 2003, the average American consumes over 30 gallons of soda per year. This is more than 200 times the amount that people drank when soft drinks first became available over 150 years ago. Even no-sugar diet sodas cause health problems, including a loss of calcium, which is important for building and maintaining strong bones.
Diet Cola and Phosphorus
Colas have one main difference over other sodas: They contain phosphoric acid. Dietary calcium is low in Western diets, as opposed to phosphorus, which Westerners eat in excess. The phosphorus in diet and regular cola triggers calcium loss. A high ratio of phosphorus to calcium may increase parathyroid hormone secretion, which increases the breakdown of bone. Diet sodas do not just weaken your bones; they can lead to other medical problems, including kidney dysfunction and obesity.
Bone Loss
Most diet sodas contain caffeine, which increases the excretion of calcium. This promotes bone loss. However, that is not the only thing in diet cola that causes bone loss. A study published in the "American Journal of Clinical Nutrition" in October 2006 found a correlation between low bone mineral density and cola. This includes caffeinated and non-caffeinated varieties. Consumption of other beverages that have carbonation did not correspond to low bone mineral density.
Conditions
A loss of calcium can lead to osteoporosis, which is a condition that causes soft teeth and weak bones. The phosphoric acid in soda also neutralizes the hydrochloric acid in your stomach. You need hydrochloric acid for calcium utilization. Soda therefore causes you to lose calcium and also prohibits your body from using calcium to undo the bone damage from calcium loss. Diet Coke has the highest amount of phosphoric acid amoung diet sodas. Diet Pepsi comes with no phosphoric acid.
Women
Women tend to drink a lot of diet soda. Noelle Larson, M.D., of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., said that this tendency inspired her to study the effects of diet soda on women. Dr. Larson says she has observed that women drink diet soda as a chronic behavior. She also shares having read a survey that reported female medical students drank 20 to 24 Diet Cokes a week. Dr. Larson led a study on women aged 18 to 40. One group drank 24 ounces of diet cola daily and the other drank water. The diet cola drinkers saw a higher excretion of calcium and phosphorus.
References
- Disease Proof; Diet Soda Depletes the Body's Calcium Stores; Joel Fuhrman, M.D.; July 2010
- CNN Health; Diet Cola Drains Calcium in Women; July 2010
- Family Education; Healthy Habits: Cut Back on Soft Drinks, Even Sugarless; David J. Frahm
- MedPage Today; ENDO: Diet Soft Drinks Deplete Urinary Calcium; Joyce Frieden; June 2010
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