If you read this blog, you’re used to being eight months ahead of leftybloggers on most things…

…including the pressing issue of promotional copy on packaging.

Last September, I  wrote about a fairly absurd-sounding claim on a Coke package:

Now, the back of this Coke case said something to the effect of “Coke promotes good hydration!  With every sip, you’re taking in water!”

Um, yeah.  You’re also taking in caffeine, which is a diuretic that leaches water from your system.  You’re also getting a ton of sugar – probably close to half the weight of the beverage – which takes even more water for your liver to purge from your system.  Hydration my ass; I’d be amazed if drinking a Coke doesn’t leave you dryer than you started.

Charlie Quimby noticed the same things.  But – this is important – he adds some information…:

You can learn more about the wonderful effects of Coca-Cola products at Coke’s website, where there’s a Hydration Calculator to help you estimate your hydration needs.

For example, if you are a 45-year-old male who weighs 175 pounds, you need 125 ounces of daily hydration from food and beverages, whereas, a 90-year old, 300-pound  male would need 125 ounces. Age 19 and only 120 pounds? You need 125 ounces, 13 ounces more when you were 18, so be sure to drink up.

And some topical good news:

…you’re probably  already thinking [as, indeed, I did]: “Wait a minute. Isn’t the caffeine in many Coke products a diuretic? So instead of hydrating, it flushes fluids from the system?”

According to this research into the effects of caffeinated drinks on athletic performance:

When no exercise was carried out, caffeine acted as a strong diuretic, hiking urine production by a torrential 31 per cent. However, it was a different story altogether during actual cycling. As the cyclists pedalled along, the use of a caffeinated sports drink didn’t boost urine output at all, compared to drinking the caffeine-free beverage. In addition, caffeine had no effect on heart rate, body temperature, or perceived effort. This was in spite of the fact that the athletes were swallowing the equivalent of two cups of coffee per hour during their three-hour exertions.

Great!

Now, if they can only get past that whole “Coke Classic leaves me feeling loggy and sick” bit, we’ll be good to go!

This entry was posted by by Mitch Berg on Tuesday, May 13th, 2008 at 5:00 am and is filed under Geekery. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.