Peanut Butter Cups

What Soda Can Do To Your Body in 30 Days

Would you drink 10 Cokes a day to prove a point? Probably not. Especially now that George Prior has decided to do it for you.

In an experiment similar to Super Size Me (a documentary that explored Morgan Spurlock’s month-long McDonalds-only eating binge and its affect on his health), Prior documented what happens when someone drinks 10 Cokes each day for a month.

Prior wanted to raise awareness about how much sugar Americans drink daily and what soda can do to our bodies. By his estimate, “a big percentage of Americans drink at least the sugar equivalent of my ten Cokes.” Though his numbers are probably slightly exaggerated, it is worth noting that soft drinks are the number one source of added calories in Americans’ diets and, drinking your calories has been linked to an increase in appetite.

As expected, Prior experienced some drastic changes during his month-long experiment. Even though he stuck to his normal diet and exercise routine, he put on 23 pounds during the period (just one pound shy of the 24 Spurlock packed on). Prior started out in good shape. His before photos show someone who is in great physical condition, his body fat percentage was 9.4, and his blood pressure was 129/77.

In those 30 days, Prior’s body fat jumped to 15.3% and his blood pressure skyrocketed to 143/96. According to the American Heart Association, this put Prior into the high blood pressure stage 1 category, meaning he’d require treatment to avoid hypertension.

But it wasn’t just the added weight that may have caused his blood pressure to shoot up. A recent study, published in Open Heart, found that sugar might have a bigger impact on hypertension than salt. Hypertension is the most important risk factor when it comes to cardiovascular disease, suggesting Americans need to cut back on both added sugar and salt.

How much sugar do you think you consume each day?

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