What Happens When You Drink Diet Soda?

It's not just the sugar or the sugar substitutes in Zero Coke—soda, in general, isn’t good for you. Period.

We've all heard about the dangers of drinking soda, and most of us are familiar with its notoriously "sweet" impact on our bodies. While it might seem harmless at first, in the long run, soda can be just as damaging as pouring toxic acid into your system.

A British pharmacist named Niraj Naik issued a stark warning about regular and "Zero" Coke two years ago. He, along with many doctors, considers these drinks catalysts for serious health problems like diabetes, fatty liver disease, and hypertension.

In general, it’s best to avoid sugary, carbonated beverages altogether, as they're usually loaded with a massive amount of sugar that your body simply can't handle—despite the instant "high" you might feel.

To illustrate the dangers, the pharmacist shared this graphic:

The image provides a detailed explanation of what happens in your body when consuming this "black sugar bomb."

Within the first ten minutes of drinking soda, you might still feel good, despite ingesting a sweetness where notorious phosphoric acid masks the taste of consuming ten teaspoons of sugar at once.

If you tried to eat ten teaspoons all at once (and please, don't try), you'd likely give up after the second or third spoonful because it’s too sweet.

Approximately 20 minutes after drinking, a wave of insulin rushes through your body (remember diabetes?). As sugar rises, so does insulin, causing your liver to produce more and more body fat. The result? Uncontrolled and obviously unhealthy weight gain.

Forty-five minutes later, your body will start producing dopamine at crazy levels, signaling to your brain that it needs more soda. A vicious cycle—tough to break unless you decide firmly to stop, avoiding even a small "sip."

Wondering about the dopamine effect? Yes, its release is similar to having a drug circulating in your blood—constantly demanding more of its "fix."

An hour after consumption, phosphoric acid begins clinging to your intestines via compounds like magnesium, calcium, and zinc. This causes your metabolism to accelerate along with increased urination, potentially leading to kidney stones over time.

And let’s not forget caffeine. While it initially creates a "high," as the sugar drops, that "high" also collapses, which previously flooded you with energy (and that’s without even discussing the damage to teeth or bones).

And after seven hours? Here’s a partial list of the harmful symptoms that could develop:

- Excessive sweating

- Overall weakness

- Confused speech

- Dizziness and headaches

- Energy crash