The June 2005 issue of the scientific journal Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine published an interesting, and alarming, study on the risks of decalcification run by teenagers who regularly consume cola drinks.  

The study involved 460 teenagers, mostly 15 year olds. Eighty percent of the teenagers drank soda pop regularly and two thirds of the soda they drank was cola. One out of every five of the teenagers studied had already suffered at least one fracture.

The researchers highlight  the fact that the risk of fracture is three times higher when the soda is made from cola, without there being any real distinction between sweetened cola drinks (classic) and non-sweetened (light).

This, in their opinion, can be explained by a hypothesis put forth many years ago by their colleagues according to which the phosphoric acid in cola drinks is at the root of the problem.

In effect, phosphoric acid not only alters our body’s natural process of calcification, something particularly critical when dealing with children, but it furthermore contributes to reducing bone mass density.

The problem is that low bone mass increases the risk of fractures in teenagers. It is also important to know that it can also contribute to aggravating the effects of a possible future osteoporosis.