Coke, one of the most popular soft drinks
Soft drinks, also called soda, pop or carbonated beverages, appear on the menu of every fast-food joint known to man. These drinks -- sugar-laden, energy-boosting concoctions -- first hit the market in the 17th century. By the late 1900s research had exposed the harmful effects soda has on the body due to its acidity, among many other characteristics. Such characteristics also affect metals in and out of the human body.
Cleansing
Soda can make a penny shine
Soft drinks can clean tarnished brass and other metal alloys due to their acidity. A metal loses its sheen because of a chemical reaction that occurs between oxygen and metal atoms. The result is an oxide -- "and this oxide is what makes the metal appear tarnished," according to Indiana Public Media. Acids cleanse away the tarnish by dissolving the metal oxides.
Corrosion
Corrosion
Soft drinks can corrode certain metals, such as iron and tin, because more often than not phosphoric, carbonic and citric acids are present in them. Corrosion results from the reaction of a metal with substances in the environment, which in turn deteriorates the former.
Depletion
Many carbonated beverages, due to high levels of caffeine, deplete the body of essential metals, such as iron and calcium. Blood has a pH between 7.35 and 7.45, "and this alkaline level is maintained by the minerals [ingested] which have buffering and neutralising properties," notes M.D. Joel Furhman. Since soda is devoid of minerals, calcium is extracted from the bones and iron from the blood in order to maintain these pH levels.
Leaching
Soft drinks leach aluminium from the cans in which they are typically contained if the cans have been shelved for lengthy periods of time. Therefore, the drinker may consequently ingest small amounts of aluminum, which has potential negative consequences.
