As brought out in many studies, youngsters and young adults are drinking more colas instead of water. It is not uncommon to hear of teenagers drinking a six pack of cola a day. The colas may quench one’s thirst but the body does not accept colas the same way as water for replenishing the fluid needs of the body. This fact has not been publicized as much as the need for strong bones to prevent fractures and osteoporosis in later years by not drinking cola. If you drink colas, taking additional calcium to strengthen the bones or doing exercises to strengthen the bones may not be sufficient. It seems that the successive amounts of phosphorus in the colas inhibits or interferes with calcium absorption. If you want strong bones and help prevent bone fractures, you should eliminate or cut down greatly on the amount of colas that you drink. If you replace the colas with good drinking water, especially spring water and not designer water, your body will thank you. This is doubly important if you are an athlete.
For more information, see the nutrition chapters in Explosive Running, Explosive Golf, Explosive Basketball Training and Womens Soccer: Using Science to Improve Speed, and Build a Better Athlete: What’s Wrong With American Sports and How to Fix It.