What Happens To Your Body Within An Hour Of Drinking A Coke

Did you ever see the movie Innerspace with Martin Short and Dennis Quaid? It's a great classic movie. These guys get shrunk down and enter a person's body, their ship flowing along with the red blood cells. You get to see some of what goes on in there; as someone who loves learning about the human body I found it fascinating. It's also just a great flick.



Most of us don't think about what's going on in there as we go about our day to day life. But the things we do really do impact us, right away, for better or for worse.

I came across this description of what happens in your body after drinking a soda. Consider it a journey of sorts. Unfortunately, it's not nearly as humorous as the movie.

What Happens To Your Body Within An Hour Of Drinking A Coke, According to the Nutrition Research Center

In The First 10 minutes: 10 teaspoons of sugar hit your system. (100% of your recommended daily intake.) You don’t immediately vomit from the overwhelming sweetness because phosphoric acid cuts the flavor allowing you to keep it down. (By the way, phosphoric acid steals calcium from your bones. Hello, osteoporosis)

20 minutes: Your blood sugar spikes, causing an insulin burst. Your liver responds to this by turning any sugar it can get its hands on into fat. (There’s plenty of that at this particular moment)

40 minutes: Caffeine absorption is complete. Your pupils dilate, your blood pressure rises, as a response your livers dumps more sugar into your bloodstream. The adenosine receptors in your brain are now blocked preventing drowsiness.

45 minutes: Your body ups your dopamine production stimulating the pleasure centers of your brain. This is physically the same way heroin works, by the way.

>60 minutes: The phosphoric acid binds calcium, magnesium and zinc in your lower intestine, providing a further boost in metabolism. This is compounded by high doses of sugar and artificial sweeteners also increasing the urinary excretion of calcium.

>60 Minutes: The caffeine’s diuretic properties come into play. (It makes you have to pee.) It is now assured that you’ll evacuate the bonded calcium, magnesium and zinc that was headed to your bones as well as sodium, electrolyte and water.

>60 minutes: As the rave inside of you dies down you’ll start to have a sugar crash. You may become irritable and/or sluggish. You’ve also now, literally, pissed away all the water that was in the Coke. But not before infusing it with valuable nutrients your body could have used for things like even having the ability to hydrate your system or build strong bones and teeth.

Of course, now your sluggishness and irritability causes you to consider.....having another one. Sound like fun?

Then again, after watching this classic commercial from 1971, those warm fuzzy feelings you will have are very convincing. It even makes me want to have one. Who wouldn't want to join those happy folks? This is my earliest Coke memory.

And here's how far they've come...

I'm not perfect. I'm not going to pretend that I never drink soda. But not every day, or even every week. If you drink this stuff on a regular basis....well, think about it.

By the way, this is what happens with a regular, sugar-filled soda. With a sugar-free "diet" soda, there's a whole other bunch of bodily reactions to that poison. By the way, artificial sweeteners besides being poisonous, actually will cause you to eat more, usually causing you to gain weight, which defeats the probable reason you chose to drink a "diet" soda to begin with. But that's a subject for another post :0

For more great info about soda you can go here.

Should I Get The Flu Shot?

The Flu Shot.

Everybody's talking about it. Should I get it? Should I give it to my children?

Vaccinations have always been a controversial topic. But this specific flu shot raises even more concerns.

Have you noticed the hype? The urgency with which you are being encouraged to get "The Shot"? Even kids are being encouraged to do so. Here's a public service announcement directed at children. Jim Henson was on board to create this fun looking ad:



A good friend of mine, Dr. Jeff Hazim, is hosting a web seminar to help you decide whether or not to get the flu shot. I always learn a great deal from him; check it out! Info is below; follow the link to register.


Should I Get the Swine Flu Shot?

Join WellWithU.com for a Webinar on December 14



Space is limited.
Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/759595776

The relentless PR campaigns from the US government, the medical/ pharmaceutical industry, and the mainstream media, claim Swine Flu (H1N1 influenza virus) is an epidemic, and advocate vaccine shots as an almost mandatory social responsibility.But what you choose to inject into your body and the bodies of your children is a highly personal decision, and should be determined through significant education and forethought, and not because of news hype and psychological pressure.Like pretty much everything in life, there is more than one-side to the story, and (believe it or not) the general public is not being told everything we genuinely need to know.

Join Dr. Jeff Hazim and vaccination expert April Renée for a live 60+ minute online seminar as they separate health fact from media fiction.

This not-to-miss health information event will be webcast worldwide on Monday, December 14th, begining at 8pm ET (7pm CT, 6pm MT, 5pm PT).

Space is limited and pre-registration is mandatory.

At this webinar you will learn:

1. What is “flu” (influenza virus) and how do you get infected?

2. What is the history of Swine Flu (H1N1), and how is it different from “normal” winter colds and viruses?

3. Is Swine Flu a modern-day pandemic and how is the Center for Disease Control (CDC) getting its statistical data?

4. Are children, pregnant women, and the elderly especially at risk?

5. What are vaccines and how do they work in your body?

6. What’s in the Swine Flu vaccine that makes it different?

7. Are there any potential health risks to getting the Swine Flu vaccine?

Plus…straightforward answers to YOUR questions!

The seminar itself will last approximately one hour, followed by Q&A from the webinar audience.
Space is limited and pre-registration is mandatory.

Please sign up immediately to reserve your spot, and then forward this email to everyone you care about!

Title: “Should I Get the Swine Flu Shot?”

Date: Monday, December 14, 2009

Time: 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM EST

After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.

Cuban Black Beans

I grew up in Miami, eating Cuban food. Fried plantains, guava pastries, cafe' con leche....not the healthiest things, to say the least. But mmm.

Good black beans and rice, though, is a good thing. Arroz Con Frijoles Negros, Cuban style. Healthful, a complete protein (with whole rice only, of course), and inexpensive, you can feel good about preparing this for your family.

And when you make extra beans, you can make my favorite black bean burgers with them later in the week.

This recipe comes from Three Guys From Miami. Here it is:

2 1/2 cups dried black beans
9 cups water
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
1 1/2 cups chopped green bell pepper
3 cloves garlic, peeled, and mashed with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
Olive oil for sautéing
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 bay leaf
3 tablespoons vinegar
3/4 cup dry Spanish wine (I use Emerald Reisling. Any white wine will do.)
2 teaspoons sugar
Olive oil


Cover dry beans with water and let stand covered overnight. Drain and discard water.
Place the cleaned black beans in a large 6-quart saucepan. Add water and olive oil—this will prevent the beans from foaming. Bring the beans to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover, and cook until the beans are tender, about 1 hour.
Do not add salt to the beans when they are cooking. Salt at this stage of the game will make your beans very tough.
You may also cook the beans in a pressure cooker. Follow the manufacturer’s directions for exact times, but our pressure cooker takes about 20 to 25 minutes to cook the beans completely.
Whichever method you use, do not drain the water from the cooked beans.
Meanwhile, chop onion and green pepper. Mash the garlic with salt and peppercorns in a mortar and pestle.
Sauté the onions and green pepper in olive oil until the onions are translucent. Add mashed garlic and sauté another minute or so.
Add the cooked beans, oregano, cumin, bay leaf, vinegar, and wine. Cover and simmer over low heat for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove bay leaf.
Some cooks—including us—like to thicken the beans by taking about 1 cup of beans and mashing them to make a thick paste. Mix the mashed beans back into the pot.
Add additional salt and pepper to taste.
Stir in the sugar; then drizzle a couple of tablespoons of olive oil over the beans. Immediately cover the pot, remove from heat, and let stand for 10 minutes.
Serve the by now fantastically prepared black beans over white rice.
You may garnish the beans with cilantro and chopped white onions. Not only do they look good presented this way, they taste even better than they look.

Buen Provecho!