Diet Coke

Prior to my cancer diagnosis, I used to be an avid Diet Coke drinker. I have never been a big coffee drinker and so I justified my Diet Coke habit as being no worse than coffee -- caffeine is caffeine, right?? I think that I always suspected that Coke was not great for my body, though -- especially after I went on vacation one time about 10 years ago. I was gone for a week and left a half-drank styrofoam cup of Diet Coke on my desk at work. I returned from vacation to find that the Diet Coke had eaten away the bottom of the cup and spilled all over my desk. Yuck! Sadly, though, this experience did nothing to keep me from buying another one...The stuff is truly addictive!!

Anyway, a friend of mine sent me the information below. I don't know whether reading this would have changed my behavior prior to being diagnosed (denial is a strong motivator) and I don't know if reading it will inspire any of you to give up soda either, but hopefully it does. Like I said many times, I don't know what caused my cancer, but I am 100% certain that drinking Diet Coke instead of water didn't help!

WATER
• 75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated.
• In 37% of Americans, the thirst mechanism is so weak that it is mistaken for hunger.
• Even MILD dehydration will slow down one's metabolism by 3%.
• One glass of water will shut down midnight hunger pangs for almost 100% of the dieters studied in a University of Washington study.
• Lack of water is the #1 trigger of daytime fatigue.
• Preliminary research indicates that 8-10 glasses of water a day could significantly ease back and joint pain for up to 80% of sufferers.
• A mere 2% drop in body water can trigger fuzzy short-term memory, trouble with basic math, and difficulty focusing on the computer screen or on a printed page.
• Drinking 5 glasses of water daily decreases the risk of colon cancer by 45%, plus it can slash the risk of breast cancer by 79%, and one is 50% less likely to develop bladder cancer.


COKE
• In many states the highway patrol carries two gallons of Coke in the trunk to remove blood from the highway after a car accident.
• You can put a T-bone steak in a bowl of Coke and it will be gone in two days. (Is this really true?? Oh my God!!!)
• To clean a toilet: Pour a can of Coca-Cola into the toilet bowl and let the "real thing" sit for one hour, then flush clean. The citric acid in Coke removes stains from vitreous china.
• To remove rust spots from chrome car bumpers: Rub the bumper with a rumpled-up piece of Reynolds Wrap aluminum foil dipped in Coca-Cola.
• To clean corrosion from car battery terminals: Pour a can of Coca-Cola over the terminals to bubble away the corrosion.
• To loosen a rusted bolt: Apply a cloth soaked in Coca-Cola to the rusted bolt for several minutes.
• To bake a moist ham: Empty a can of Coca-Cola into the baking pan, wrap the ham in aluminum foil, and bake. Thirty minutes before ham is finished, remove the foil, allowing the drippings to mix with the Coke for a sumptuous brown gravy.
• To remove grease from clothes: Empty a can of Coke into the load of greasy clothes, add detergent, and run through a regular cycle. The Coca-Cola will help loosen grease stains. It will also clean road haze from your windshield.


FOR YOUR INFORMATION:
• The active ingredient in Coke is phosphoric acid. It will dissolve a nail in about four days. Phosphoric acid also leaches calcium from bones and is a major contributor to the rising increase of osteoporosis.
• To carry Coca-Cola syrup (the concentrate) the commercial trucks must use a hazardous material place cards reserved for highly corrosive materials.
• The distributors of Coke have been using it to clean engines of the trucks for about 20 years