That is true. I think once you are addicted to cokes stuff then it gets very hard to leave it.. personally i tried many times switching from coke cans to milk or to juices but after a day or two again go back to my coke cans atleast 4-5 daily.. hardly touch milk anynmore.. and surely i could feel and see its effects on my health but i guess its too late by now to leave this addiction.. hope others take care of that from an early stage and keep escially children away from it as much as possible. 

Jenni wrote: I just want to appeal to all parents, aunts, uncles ect. out there to stop giving kids soda, or cola. It doesn't matter if its Mecca cola or coke its all the same. Its bad for your teeth and the suger and high fructose corn syrup in it contributes to obesity and diabetes. Parents need to say no to kids and offer them water, milk, 100% juice(not more that one cup a day) or homemade drinks like sparkling water with orange slices. I am tired of going to frieds houses and having them offer my kids soda. And when you come to my house for a party, there will be no soda served!!!

I agree.  Allah (subhana wa ta'ala) has provided us with so many natural beverages and foods that we really should not even have to drink artificial drinks, especially ones that are bad for us as soda defintly is.  Water is the very best thing to drink, whether its from Zamzam or your regrigerator doesn't matter.  If you raise your kids on drinking water and good things, they will probably never even want to drink soda.

Alhamdulillah for all the natural things Allah (subhana wa ta'ala) has provided us with.

Auzubillahi minash shaitan ir rajeem,

Bismillah ir rahman ir rahim,

Lime soda, Sprite or other fruit juices that are carbonated are not as bad as coca cola and pepsi. Lamp, may be you should try weaning yourself with the help of these.

 One of the harms of cola is that it contains phosphorus, which in excess is very bad for the bones. It can effect both growing kids and adults.

Talking of health hazards in foods, monosodium glutamate is also very bad for bones. It is a salt and may be used in very small quantities, never-the-less, causes adiction to the products it is used in.  Parents and guardians shld take care shopping for their little ones, their health is our duty.

Maa salaama,

Nausheen

Sister Nausheen .. i wish it was that easy i did try in past though but its very hard once you are so much addicted to cokes stuff.. you keep coming back to it. 

If anyone knows monsodium glutomate and MSG is the same thing that sister nausheen has mentioned?

Controversy surrounding food additive MSG (monosodium glutamate-a common flavor enhancer) was re-ignited when a Japanese researcher suggested that consuming too much of the ingredient could make you go blind.

Researchers at Hirosaki University in Japan have found that rats fed diets high in MSG suffer vision loss and have thinner retinas than those in the control group. Glutamate, a group of chemicals that includes MSG, is an amino acid that acts as a neurotransmitter. It has already been shown to cause nerve damage in experiments where it is injected directly into the eye.

MSG, a sodium salt of the amino acid glutamic acid and a form of glutamate, is used as a flavor enhancer in a variety of foods prepared in restaurants and by food processors. While technically MSG is only one of several forms of free glutamate used in foods, consumers frequently use the term MSG to mean all free glutamate.

Its use has become controversial in the past 30 years because of reports of adverse reactions in people who have eaten foods that contain MSG. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), research on the role of glutamate in the nervous system has also raised questions about the chemical's safety.

According to lead researcher Hiroshi Ohguro, his is the first study to show that eye damage can be caused by eating food that contains MSG. A report in the New Scientist this week explains that in the study, rats were fed three different diets for six months, containing either high or moderate amounts of MSG, or none. In rats on the high-MSG diet, some retinal nerve layers thinned by as much as 75 percent, and tests that measured retinal response to light showed they could not see as well. Rats on the moderate MSG diet also had damage, to a lesser extent.

The researchers found high concentrations of MSG in the vitreous fluid, which bathes the retina. MSG binds to receptors on retinal cells, destroying them and causing secondary reactions that reduce the ability of the remaining cells to relay electrical signals.

Ohguro acknowledged that large amounts of MSG were used-20 percent of the total diet in the highest group. "Lesser amounts should be OK," he said, "but the precise borderline amount is still unknown."

He said the findings might explain why in eastern Asia, there is a high rate of normal-tension glaucoma, a form of the eye disease that leads to blindness without the usual increase in pressure inside the eyeball. The higher rate, however, could also be due to genetics.

The New Scientist report continues that Peng Tee Khaw, a glaucoma specialist at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London, said the amounts of MSG in the highest diet are "a lot, lot higher than you'd eat. But if you're a sodium glutamate junky, then you could potentially run into problems with your retina."

And while the amount of glutamate in the rats' diets was extremely high, lower dietary intakes could produce the same effects over several decades.

With such persuasive evidence it is clear that food processors must brace themselves for another wave of anti-MSG activity from global consumer associations. In a bid to reassure these same campaigners, food scientists must continue to investigate the impact of MSG, and free glutamates, on human health, as well as looking into alternatives.

One step toward finding alternatives was reported by FoodNavigator.com in April of this year. New research into the use of human taste and smell receptors in functional assays to screen for novel receptor activators and blockers was reported. Senomyx, the U.S. company that carried out the research, is hoping that their research will lead them to discover alternatives to MSG, as well as enhancers of sweet and umami (the taste conveyed by several substances naturally occurring in foods, including glutamate) tastes.

Most are aware that MSG is something that is wise to avoid due to its negative health effects. Most are not aware that MSG is added to most infant formulas. Soy formulas in particular are loaded with MSG.

This table displays some hidden sources of MSG:

These ingredients ALWAYS contain MSG:

These ingredients OFTEN contain MSG or create MSG during processing:

Some unexpected sources of MSG:

Asalamu Alaikum,

Buy a juicer and make apple, carrot, cantaloupe and other natural juices that are excellent for your health and naturally sweet. They run about $100.00 but it's well worth the money. Soda is funky.

Wasalam,

Liam

If you still have two or three bottles of Cola, don't throw'em away... Here's some uses for Coca-Cola...

1. In many states (in the USA) the highway patrol carries two gallons of Coke in the trunk to remove blood from the highway after a car accident.

2. You can put a T-bone steak in a bowl of coke and it will be gone in two days.

3. 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.

4. To remove rust spots from chrome car bumpers: Rub the bumper with a crumpled-up piece of Reynolds Wrap aluminum foil dipped in Coca-Cola.

5. To clean corrosion from car battery terminals: Pour a can of Coca-Cola over the terminals to bubble away the corrosion.

6. To loosen a rusted bolt: Applying a cloth soaked in Coca-Cola to the rusted bolt for several minutes.

7. To remove grease from clothes: Empty a can of coke into a 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.

Funny facts...

1. The active ingredient in Coke is phosphoric acid. Its Ph is 2.8. It will dissolve a nail in about 4 days.

2. To carry Coca-Cola syrup (the concentrate) the commercial truck must use the Hazardous material place cards reserved for Highly corrosive materials.

3. The distributors of coke have been using it to clean the engines of their trucks for about 20 years!

Still Want To Drink Up?????????

Yan237,

Your list is totally untrue, there is a program called "Mythbusters", and your list of Facts was proven to be all false.  Consider the above "facts" to be non-facts, or test them first yourself before you make this claim.

Bismillah,

Okay.  Jenni, I agree. Yet, there might be some in my house because they sneak it in through the black market.

I hate coffee also.  Not many takers there, I'm sure!  It depletes the bioavailability of vitamins.

When's the party?  Can you send a car because the drive to Cali might be a bit too much for me?

Whether Yann is correct or not, I still think his post is funny.

You expect my kids to eat my food without MSG?  Maybe if they had a coke to wash it down...

Assalamu alaikum,

I never gave my son any pop until he was about 10 years old, and then, only very rarely.  He only drank milk and fruit juices.

Now, he is 23 and drinks pop all the time .  Sometimes the best intentions don't quite work out.

Though, at least he doesn't drink alcohol or coffee either  .  They grow up so fast.

Peace, ummziba.

Bismillah,

Sister Ummziba, I agree that the best of intentions don't always work out and appreciate your sharing your son's story.

I might make it to a couple of foreign countries again before I get out to Cali, but thanks for the invite! 

I knew a lady in Jordan who was so poor that they often didn't have much to eat.  When people came to visit and saw she didn't have coffee and tea to serve them, they bought that for her.  So she gave her kids a pretty standard drink for kids there:  Coffee milk, or tea, and they had biscuits, like at Starbucks, to dip into it.