In the past few days, two suspected cases of mercury poisoning after drinking Sprite occurred in Beijing, which has drawn public attention. How can we drink Sprite without getting poisoned? Do you have the habit of mixing Sprite with other drinks? If so, let's correct this mistake together.
First, let me explain the ingredients of Sprite: water, high fructose corn syrup, granulated sugar, food additives (carbon dioxide, citric acid, sodium citrate, sodium benzoate), and natural flavors.
Mistake 1: Drinking Sprite mixed with vinegar helps lose weight.
"There is no data or research to support the claim that drinking Sprite mixed with vinegar helps lose weight. On the contrary, studies show that vinegar may help with weight loss to a certain extent. Vinegar can delay the digestion time of food in the stomach and slow down the rise of blood sugar levels. When blood sugar rises quickly, more insulin is secreted, leading to faster fat synthesis. From this perspective, vinegar has some inhibitory effect on fat synthesis. However, adding the sugar content in carbonated beverages merely adjusts the taste and dilutes the concentration of vinegar, providing no additional benefits for weight loss," an expert from the College of Food Science and Nutritional Engineering at China Agricultural University told reporters. She also reminded people that edible vinegar has a relatively high concentration and can easily irritate the digestive tract. It should not be consumed on an empty stomach but preferably during meals. People with excessive gastric acid should avoid trying it. Fu Sanxian, deputy chief nutritionist at Zhengzhou University First Affiliated Hospital, also stated that vinegar has the function of softening blood vessels and lowering lipid levels. Moderate use of vinegar is beneficial for urban residents' high-calorie diets, but adding carbonated beverages provides no benefit.
This "acid plus acid" drinking method, does it harm the teeth? Experts believe that as a beverage, it stays in the mouth for a short period, so the short-term damage to the teeth and oral environment is not obvious. However, if consumed in large quantities over a long period, it will lead to decalcification of the teeth.
Mistake 2: Mixing Sprite with milk tastes better.
Besides mixing with vinegar, some people have also invented new ways of drinking by adding Sprite to milk or yogurt. What’s the logic behind this? "Firstly, mixing Sprite with milk causes protein precipitation. Proteins in milk and yogurt are most sensitive to acidity, and carbonated beverages contain acids. Therefore, when mixed, turbidity and flocculent precipitates occur," experts say. However, the formation of precipitates does not mean protein deterioration nor affect its absorption within the human body. Simply put, "this practice offers no benefits and is unnecessary."
Experts believe that milk, being a calcium-rich food, combined with Sprite, a carbonated beverage, leads to the combination of carbonic acid with calcium to form calcium carbonate crystals or precipitates, affecting the absorption of calcium by the human body and reducing the nutritional value of milk itself.
Mistake 3: Mixing Sprite with red wine makes it sweeter.
The habit of mixing Sprite with alcohol has been around in China for some time. Experts find this practice "hard to understand." Taking the common practice of mixing Sprite with dry red wine as an example, she says that the most valuable aspect of dry red wine is its "dryness," which means the sugar content has been carefully removed. Adding Sprite reintroduces sugar — is it necessary?
Moreover, carbonation exacerbates the harmful effects of alcohol.
Experts explain: "About 80% of alcohol is absorbed in the small intestine, and the absorption speed in the small intestine is very fast. Carbonated beverages release carbon dioxide gas in the body, causing high pressure in the stomach, accelerating the emptying of the stomach, and thus speeding up the entry of alcohol into the small intestine. This accelerates the absorption of alcohol in the body and increases the burden on the liver for alcohol metabolism."
Experts also noted that carbonation itself irritates the gastric mucosa, as does alcohol. The combination of both aggravates the irritation of the gastric mucosa, potentially leading to excessive gastric acid secretion.
Experts said that Sprite has a certain masking effect. As a sweet beverage, when added to alcohol, it easily gives people the illusion of "drinking a beverage," making it easy to drink too much unknowingly.
Final Explanation: Mixing Sprite only changes the taste.
For all sorts of new ways of drinking Sprite, experts unanimously believe that apart from changing the taste, there are almost no beneficial effects. "This phenomenon shows one thing: Chinese people like sweetness, and the rest are psychological comforts," the expert said. Some practices may not have obvious harm, but from a nutritional point of view, they are useless, such as adding fruit juice to Sprite. The original nutrients of the fruit juice, if rated as thirty points, might be diluted to fifteen points.
Experts also mentioned the "placebo effect." He said that, for instance, the claim that adding monosodium glutamate (MSG) to Sprite can stimulate libido is largely a placebo effect. Placebo effects work through strong psychological suggestions, achieving real "effects" for some people, but these placebos cannot withstand scientific scrutiny. This effect can also explain other novel ways of drinking Sprite. Once this popular drinking method passes, a new trend may soon follow.
Sprite, as a common carbonated beverage, has many bold drinking methods, such as mixing Sprite with red wine, milk, fruit juice, erguotou (a type of Chinese liquor), and even adding MSG.
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February 1, 2010