In my quest for a thinner “me,” I often turn to my trusty diet soda. After all, the cherry flavor is sweet and helps with cravings, the carbonation makes it more desirable than other alternative drinks, and it just so happens to feel a little like cheating—even though it’s not.
However, I recently came across these facts about soda, which have been published widely. Resist hanging your mouth open as you read them—you might catch a fly. But after reading this, I suppose even that is better than reaching for yet another can of soda.
Miscellaneous facts:
1. Did you know that the phosphoric acid (the main ingredient) in soda can dissolve a nail in as little as four days? If you’re worried about osteoporosis (and who isn’t?) then you should also know that phosphoric acid, which takes calcium from our bones, can be a contributor to the disease.
2. Did you know that the trucks carrying soda syrup concentrate have to use the Hazardous material place cards reserved for highly corrosive materials? Yeeks!
3. If you put a T-bone stead in a bowl of coke and let it sit, it will disintegrate within two days.
4. Coke is powerful enough to clean the inside of a dirty toilet.
5. In certain states in the US, the highway patrol officers carry two gallons of coke with them to remove blood from the highway after car accidents.
6. Aluminum foil dipped in soda can remove rust spots from chrome car bumpers.
7. Got greasy clothes? Pour a can of soda into the wash with the clothes and run the washer on the regular cycle. The soda will lift the grease.
8. A can of soda can be poured over a car battery to erase corrosion. It can also be soaked into a towel and put over a rusty bolt to loosen it.
9. If you’ve taken a trip and have a lot of windshield “debris”, pour a soda onto your windshield to remove the bugs.
10. It’s been rumored that distributors of soda have been using it to clean their truck engines for years.
Whether these facts are true or not, they deserve your attention, if only to make you realize that what we put into our bodies matters. Choose wisely the next time you go for a beverage. How much can something impede weight loss if it is putting a bunch of “junk” right back into your “trunk?” Think about it.