A steady, liters-per-day diet of colas can cause serious muscle problems, doctors warned in a study Tuesday.
A review of clinical cases showed that super-sized doses of soft drinks loaded with processed sugars and caffeine can cause potassium levels in the blood to plummet, giving rise to a condition known as hypokalaemia.
Small changes in potassium levels can create havoc with the body's cardiovascular and neuromuscular systems.
Typical symptoms of hypokalaemia are decreased muscle strength, cramping, palpitations, and nausea.
In more extreme cases, potassium deficiency can lead to heart trouble and profound paralysis.
"We are consuming more soft drinks than ever before and a number of health issues have already been identified," including tooth decay, loss of bone mass, and diabetes, said Moses Elisaf, a doctor at the University of Ioannina in Greece and main architect of the study.
"Excessive cola consumption can also lead to hypokalaemia, causing an adverse effect on vital muscle functions," he said.
The study reviewed cases studies in which patients drank two to nine liters of soda beverages a day, including two pregnant women admitted to hospital with dangerously low potassium levels.
One of the women complained of fatigue, appetite loss, and vomiting. The other, who had been drinking up to seven liters of cola a day during the previous 10 months, had weak muscles.
Both patients made a rapid and full recovery after they stopped drinking cola and took oral or intravenous potassium, reported the study, to be published in June in the International Journal of Clinical Practice.
The study suggests that hypokalaemia can be caused by excessive consumption of three of the most common ingredients in cola-type drinks: glucose, fructose, and caffeine.
"The individual role of each of these ingredients in the pathophysiology of cola-induced hypokalaemia has not been determined and may vary in different patients," Elisaf said
"However in most of the cases we looked at, caffeine intoxication was thought to play the most important role," he said.
In a commentary published in the same journal, Clifford Packer from the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center in Ohio said doctors should take note.
"Cola drinks need to be added to the physician' checklist of drugs and substances that can cause hypokalaemia," he said.
In 2007, worldwide annual consumption of soft drinks reached 552 billion liters, the equivalent of 83 liters aperson ayear, according to the study. That figure is expected to climb to 95 litres per day by 2012.
In the United States, average consumption last year was 212 liters.
Copyright AFP
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