Is COLA beneficial?

by Dianne Cuyugan

Recently, I have noticed that the weather is so hot and humid. A slight movement makes you sweat. Unfortunately, most of the time, your sweat can’t get out of your skin. Of course, since the relative humidity is high, the vapour and air pressure in the surroundings is higher than that of your body. You feel greasy and unpleasant that it makes you want to say “You know, I’m hot!” (haha). But of course, you can’t do that. He/she might say “I know, because I make you hot.” Haha, again don’t even think about it because these will cause increase CO₂ release due to boisterous laughs. Then, what could be the immediate solutions aside from soaking your body in a bath tub and never get out of the shower (because obviously this is not easily accessible from outside your house)?

I heard you! That’s right, CASAA!!! One of the best stores there is the soft drinks-ice cream-sylvanas station. Just one coca cola and voila you have revived yourself from impending melt down. Even though you don’t drink too much carbonated soda because of the very high acidity, sometimes you just ignore this. What can you do if this is the way to your survival? After drinking, you feel refreshed and energized that you can just do everything like Superman. But then, how does this happen? What are the effects of carbonated soda?

You have experienced the fizzy sensation including stinging, burning, cooling and irritating in your nasal and oral cavity? This is called the carbonation perception. This happens because CO₂ diffuses from bursting bubbles against the oral mucosa/epithelium. Researchers have found out that the freshness perception in beverages (Labbe et al., 2009 as cited in Saint-Eve, A., et al., 2010) include a hedonic dimension aside from visual, olfactory, tactile, and gustatory and auditory components (Westerink & Kozlov, 2003; Zampini & Spence, 2005 as cited in Saint-Eve, A., et al., 2010). And one of the most refreshing aromas is mint (Labbe et al., 2009 as cited in Saint-Eve, A., et al., 2010). Mint containing menthol stimulates the olfactory and trigeminal perception system which causes the refreshing perception (Saint-Eve, A., et al., 2010).

So to answer the question-title, it is yes. Well, psychologically it is.

Saint-Eve, A., et al. (2010). How trigeminal, taste and aroma perceptions are affected in mint-flavored carbonated beverages. Food Quality and Preference, doi:10.1016/j.foodqual.2010.05.021

Labbe, D., Gilbert, F., Antille, N., & Martin, N. (2009). Sensory determinants of refreshing. Food Quality and Preference, 20(2), 100–109.

Westerink, J., & Kozlov, S. (2003). Freshness in oral care: Attributes and time dependency of a multidimensional dynamic concept. Journal of Sensory Study, 19, 171–192.

Zampini, M., & Spence, C. (2005). Modifying the multisensory perception of a carbonated beverage using auditory cues. Food Quality and Preference, 16(7), 632–641.