National Coke Day 2021: 9 Crazy Health Facts About This Sugary Beverage

National Have a Coke Day celebrates the carbonated soft drink developed by the company Coca-Cola each year on May 8. Millions of people worldwide enjoy the beverage, incorporating it into their everyday lives.

While opening a can of Coca-Cola is sure to bring happiness, here are nine not-so-awesome things the carbonated drink could do to a person's health, courtesy of Medical News Today, Eat This and WebMD:

Your blood sugar spikes

A single, 12-ounce can of Coca-Cola contains 39 grams of sugar, causing blood sugar to spike. This has long-term side effects such as increasing a person's risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.

Your skin breaks out

A study in 2019 found a correlation between drinking Coke regularly and acne breakouts. The study's findings revealed that the participants who regularly consumed carbonated and sweetened tea drinks were more likely to suffer from moderate-to-severe acne, Eat This reported.

You get belly fat

Drinking Coke makes a person gain weight. Aside from being packed with tons of sugar, one can of the carbonated drink also contains 140 calories. As Coke is also made of high-fructose corn syrup, the drink has also been linked to obesity.

It damages your teeth

A study published in the International Journal of Dentistry found that darker-colored sodas such as Coke stains the surface of a drinker's teeth. The drink also promotes tooth decay since it is high in sugar, according to the American Dental Association.

Coke reportedly increases your risk of developing dementia

Regularly consuming high levels of sugar is linked to increasing one's risk of developing dementia, particularly Alzheimer's disease, several studies have suggested.

It disrupts your sleeping pattern

If tooth decay, weight gain and acne breakouts aren't enough, frequently drinking Coke can also disrupt people's sleeping pattern due to a greater intake of sugary caffeinated sodas. A study in Sleep Health found that those who drank sugary sodas slept five hours a night or less.

It reportedly has effects similar to heroin

Within 40 minutes of drinking a can of Coke, the body would be finished absorbing all the caffeine from the soda. This would then make pupils dilate as well as increase blood pressure. The body's dopamine production would then spike. Shortly after, a sugar crash is then bound to happen, causing irritability and drowsiness.

The effects of this process are said to be similar to those of the drug heroin as it will urge a person to drink another can of Coke, according to an infographic by the British pharmacist Niraj Naik.

Coca-Cola has denied this, with a spokesperson for the company saying that the beverage is "perfectly safe to drink and can be enjoyed as part of a balanced diet and lifestyle."

Coke allegedly makes you die sooner

A study published in JAMA International Medicine found that those who drink artificially sweetened drinks are at a higher risk of dying prematurely — about 26% more than those who rarely consume said drinks.

It is linked to cancer

High sugar intake is linked to a higher likelihood of developing pancreatic cancer, according to a study published in the Annals of Epidemiology. Research also suggested that postmenopausal women had a higher risk of endometrial cancer if they drink Coke or other sugary drinks.