What Happens When You Only Drink Coke Or Pepsi?

You may love Coke and/or Pepsi, but what would happen to your body if it's the only thing you drank?

Coke and Pepsi Cans
Coca-Cola/PepsiCo

Hundreds of millions of people enjoy drinking a Coke or Pepsi every day, but have you ever stopped to think what might happen to your body if you stopped drinking all other liquids, and only drank soda?

It's well-known that these beverages contain a ton of sugar, and aren't all that healthy, but what would happen to your body if it's all you drank? Usually, these sorts of questions are answerable only by diving into the various factors of body chemistry, the soda's composition, and how our bodies react to such a thing, but in this case, there are real-world examples to learn from.

Thanks to people like Morgan Spurlock, who ate nothing but McDonald's food for 30 days in his hit documentary Super Size Me, there are plenty of people around the world who attempt similar experiments, and many have opted to replace their liquids with Coke or Pepsi.

Incidentally, don't read this and think to yourself, 'I'm going to give this a try!' You will be doing your body a major disservice, so read this article to learn what would likely happen to your body should you decide to chuck your water for a Coke, and never turn back.

8. Your Teeth Will Rot Right Out Of Your Mouth

Tooth Decay
Dr. Yogesh/Wikimedia Commons

A standard can of Coke contains 39 grams of sugar, while a 12-ounce can of Pepsi will throw 41 grams of the sweet stuff down your throat. Depending on where you're drinking, the can might contain less sugar, more, or something completely different like an artificial sweetener, but for the purposes of this article, the standard 12-ounce can will be used.

Sugar isn't good for our bodies in a number of ways, but the one way we can see the impact almost right away is by looking at our teeth. Sugary drinks may slide down your throat when you drink them, but they first coat your teeth, gums, and tongue, and remain there for hours after your first drink of the sweet stuff.

When that sugar sits on your teeth, it interacts with the bacteria that normally lies within plaque to produce acid. This occurs when the bacteria use the sugar to produce energy, and the released acid is essentially their waste product. Teeth and acid don't mix, and it serves to dissolve the enamel coating your teeth.

Once this happens, your teeth begin to rot, leading to cavities, and tooth decay, which could require a root canal or extraction. Drinking soda through a straw mitigates this somewhat, but your best bet in fighting tooth decay from drinking soda would be to immediately brush your teeth after consuming a can.

That's all well and good for drinking a single can of soda, but if you replace water with Coke or Pepsi, your tooth troubles will pile up on you. If you aren't constantly brushing your teeth or rinsing with mouthwash, expect your teeth to rot and fall out. You can get away with the substitution for a while, but eventually, you will lose your teeth.

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Jonathan is a graphic artist, illustrator, writer, and game designer. Jonathan retired from the U.S. Army in 2017 and enjoys researching and writing about history, science, theology, and many other subjects. He writes for ScreenRant, CBR, NerdBastards, Listverse, Ranker, WhatCulture, and many other sites online. You can check out his latest on Twitter: @TalkingBull or on his blog: jonathanhkantor.com