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I Have a confession to make...........

"I AM A COKE ADDICT"

Phew, glad I got that off of my chest but in all seriousness I have come to realize that I am addicted to the sweet sugary goodness of the always refreshing Coca-Cola. I was fine with that addiction until recently when I tried to quit, well temporarily. So I made an agreement with my sister to give up sodas for a month as a part of a New Year's Resolution. I figured it would be hard giving it up because I had become accustomed, like most of the billions of Coke drinkers around the world I like to have a refreshing soda with most of my meals, but I figured that I would manage after all its a New Year Resolution, it's suppose to be hard right?!

Well a week or so in and I AM REGRETTING IT BIG TIME. All of a sudden I start to feel withdrawal symptoms that I did not expect. Who expects to feel physical manifestation of a soft drink? Would this happen if you were addicted to cranberry or orange Juice?! Can you even be addicted to OJ? I started to realize that without my daily dose of coke I would find it increasingly hard to stay awake during the day or focus in meetings and presentations. My days seemed longer and longer, I started finding myself unable to stay up past 10pm and I began to crave the refreshing thirst of an ice cold coca-cola. And although I am sure we are all aware of the negative side effects of consuming sodas on a regular basis (e.g. high sugar intake, cavities associated and empty calories leading to weight gain) the devastating effects these sugary soft drinks can have on the physiology of your body can be quite astonishing considering the availability of these products to the world. They are sold in every corner of the world in every slum, hillside and mountain top. Therefore as a scientist, the apparent side effects from my coca-cola withdrawal peaked my curiosity and initiated my research into the science behind a Coke addiction something I never had a desire to purse until now.

So we all know about the "nutritional facts" about a can of coke.....basically there are none! No Vitamins no minerals, a lot of sodium and a lot of sugar. I'm a scientist and I measure grams of compounds all the time and trust me when I say 45g is a lot! We all know this and we all say the same thing, who cares! Its my body and I'll do what I want to. I guess we should start looking at soda drinkers like cigarette smokers. But aside from these "nutritional facts" another thing we don't realize is how this 12oz can of deliciousness is almost like shooting up a fix in your arm every time you take a swig. Trust me I should know, I've been addicted all my life! And right now as I go through withdrawal "I'm fiendin" for another fix every second of everyday.

Another ingredient that is not clearly labeled on the can is the amount of caffeine (ephedrine). A 12oz can of coke has 35mg of caffeine (58mg for a 20oz). That may not seem like a lot considering a 20oz Venti from Starbucks has 415mg of caffeine per serving but it adds up. And I confess to substituting coke as my caffeine intake considering that I don't drink coffee, I use it to stay awake late at night, to put pep in my step and to sometimes just calm my nerve....Ironic I know, considering caffeine increases your heart rate.  However, interestingly enough just as addictive to caffeine is the sugar itself.

So I wanted to highlight some of the ways these chemicals affect our bodies.

Caffeine
The physiological activity of caffeine blocks the activity of phosphodiesterase (PDE) a chemical that breaks down the chemical messenger of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) that is involved in signal transmission in neurons. Basically what this means is that Caffeine "AMPS UP" the electrical signal in your body and keeps it AMP'D! This is how caffeine allows you to stay awake longer or make you feel invigorated  an activity that is very similar to the activity of many nervous stimulants like cocaine/heroine. Its like taking a car battery and running your lawn mower with it. It will work fine and might even work better for a short while but eventually you will fry the system because its can't handle all that power (i.e. post-stimulant CRASH). When this becomes your regular routine you begin losing the ability to function without it. Hence, why I felt like I needed it once I decided to give up my daily coke and started going through withdrawal. My body was telling me that it did not know how to function without it.  Many prominent researchers believe that caffeine addiction is a mental disorder similar to heroin/cocaine addiction, with symptoms that can seem almost as intense. So do not take that can of coke/cup of coffee lightly as it may have more an affect on you than you realize!

Sugar
Additionally, sugar itself can be very addictive and may be the leading cause of obesity, diabetes, cancer and heart disease. We all know that sugar is suppose to rot your teeth, cause you to put on weight and too much of it is just bad for many health reasons. But did you know that sugar can have an effect on your brain function? Many scientists believe that sugar is just as addictive as cocaine and operates on a reward/pleasure system for your brain. Sugar triggers the brain to release dopamine, which is the chemical that controls pleasure in your brain. So every time your body gets a high dose of sugar, your brain climaxes a little and on a constant day by day basis your body becomes addicted. So addictive that when you can't get this pleasure fix it affects you mood/behavior and can make you a little grumpy....think about the snicker's commercial when the boy  turns into Joe Pesci at a party. But what snickers is not telling you is that the more you do this the more we can get you addicted to our candy! In today's food pyramid sugar is in everything from the breads we eat to the healthy yogurts we consume. The reason for this is that the food industry knows that there is big money on getting their customers hooked but also associating their product with a euphoric pleasure sense.

I'm not saying we all need to start living a caffeine free, sugar free lifestyle, and give up all the good things we love, in fact I will probably be back to drinking my coke after my coke free month (a.k.a. purgatory) is over. But I think we need to know what we are doing to our bodies and realize that the addiction is real, just like the crack addict, cigarette addict, alcoholic.....the COKE ADDICTION IS REAL! After all when you force feed the human population a constant supply of two of the most addictive substances known to man enslavement to the "CRAVE" is inevitable.

The good news is that after a month (well almost 3 weeks), I feel less inclined to need a coke in my life with every meal and substituting a coke a day for water has helped me feel healthier while undertaking my other New Year's resolution of exercising more. So cracking the habit (pun intended) is totally doable if you want it bad enough.

So I implore you, if you are a coke addict, a coffee addict  a Starbucks addict (because you know Starbucks isn't just regular coffee) try giving it up for a week maybe even a month and see how severe your side effects are because the severity of your side effects can tell you a lot about your addiction. And if you wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat dreaming of a cup of coffee then you might want to just think twice about judging that crack-ish looking homeless person wandering the streets, because you'll have a better idea of what they are going through.