Is Soda Acidic? — How Cola Damages Digestive Health

How did so many of us come to be pouring highly acidic cola down our throats over and over again each day?

And what kind of negative effects are these drinks having on your teethstomachdigestive system and long term health?

Ahead is the pH level of soda and just how acidic CokePepsiDr Pepper and other popular carbonated beverages are to drink.

Alsohow the strange mix of sugarchemicals and acids in cola affects digestion and can lead to gastrointestinal problems.

The Acid Levels in Soda

Short of drinking undiluted vinegarcola is about the most acidic beverage you can buy to drinkaccording to studies by the Journal of the American Dental Association.

In scientific testingthe pH level of the most popular brands of soda ranged from between 2.34 and 3.10. Coke was one of the most acidic sodas tested (pH of 2.37). While Pepsi cola was not far behind in acidity (pH of 2.39).

Though not as high on the acid scale as colaother popular carbonated soft drinkslike Fanta Orange (pH of 2.82)Dr Pepper (pH of 2.88)Mountain Dew (pH of 3.22)7UP (pH of 3.24) and Sprite (pH of 3.24)all showed significant acidity when tested.

In the way that the pH of liquids are rankeda pH level of 2.5 is about 10,000 times stronger on the acidic scale than water.

To get an idea of the scale of the acid in sodaby comparisonbattery acid that will eat away your skin has a pH of 1.

Clean water has a pH of 7 and your blood needs to maintain a pH balance of between 7.35 and 7.45 for cellular processes to function properly.

When your blood has a pH below 7.35 it is considered too acidic and acidosis is associated with many health problems.

How the Acids in Soda Affect Your Digestive System

While a healthy digestive tract’s buffering systems generally prevent cola’s acidity from directly affecting your bloodstreamthese countermeasures can be costly in the long term.

Minerals stored in your bodysuch as calcium phosphateare drawn upon by the phosphate buffering system to counteract the carbonic acidand particularly citric and phosphoric acidfound in sodas.

Calcium phosphate is an important component of your bones and teethbut the more soda acids you consumethe more this mineral is drawn upon to neutralize it.

It’s not just a case of there not being enough calcium to maintain healthy bones and teeth. Over timewith high consumption of acid drinks like colacalcium is drawn from your teeth and bones to compensate your depleted digestive system.

When this happens your teeth become weaker and more likely to decayyour bones become more brittle and easier to fractureand the eventual result can be crippling osteoporosis.

This study of over 25,000 people found cola consumption specificallyrather than just carbonated drinks in generalis directly related to an increased risk of osteoporosis.

Hydrochloric Acid and the Phosphoric Acid in Soda

Your mouth liningthroat and esophagus are all very sensitive to acids like phosphoric acid and may become irritated with regular exposure to cola. But what about your stomach?

Some people believe that because the hydrochloric acid in your stomach is of a lower pHat around 2 and less than soda’s pH of 2.37its acidity should have no effect.

Unfortunatelyhigh consumption of sodawith both its phosphoric acid and caffeineappears to reduce the secretion of HCl in your stomach over time. This is likely due to elevated gastric acid production that drinking cola encouragesparticularly on an empty stomach.

While many people worry about too much stomach acidityit’s often chronic low stomach acid that is more problematic for digestive health, negatively affecting protein digestion in particular.

Mineral absorption is also impaired with low HCl. Reduced hydrochloric acid in gastric juices can also allow bacteriayeasts and parasites in food to survive the stomach where they are normally neutralized.

These pathogens are then free to move on to your small intestine and colon where they can end up causing all manner of gastrointestinal problems and long term issues.

Excess liquids alone can dilute stomach acidwhich is bad enough for digestion. Add the phosphoric acidcaffeinehigh quantities of sugarand the various chemicals in soda to the mix and you are really tempting serious gastrointestinal issues.

Giving Up Acidic Soda

All of this is assuming you have a healthy gut in the first place. Many people report intestinal pain after drinking soda and GPs generally advised against drinking soft drinks of any kind when you have an irritated stomach or stomach ulcers.

Good advicebut probably a bit too late by then. Replace cola now with these healthier soda alternatives and you may avoid ever having these problems in the first place.

Even betteryou’ll be likely to lose weightbe much healthier and regain some real energy that doesn’t rely on that jittery caffeine rush and sugar spikes and crashes.

Have you ever tried giving up cola? It seems the specific ingredients in sodaespecially the caffeinehigh levels of sugar and very acidic pHmake it particularly hard for many people to stop drinking it.

I’d be interested to hear about your experiencesespecially how you felt in the days immediately after giving it up.

It’s not really a question of is soda acidicbut ratherjust how much damage is the acidity in cola doing to you and your body personally.

Ahead is a simple plan to quit sodaand its acidschemicals and sugarby replacing it with a similar tasting but much healthier drink and minimizing caffeine withdrawal symptoms.