When you like to drink a beverage, there is nothing else to think about than Coca-Cola. The famous drink is a product of Atlanta, Georgia, invented by the end of the 19th century.
First used as a drug for stomachache and other pains, Coca-Cola managed to get the recognizable trademark and red-white colors by the beginning of the 20th century.
Now you can find Coca-Cola in any supermarket or convenience store in the world. The addition of extra non-sugar sweeteners has brought Coke Zero and Light to give you extra pleasure.
Today we will talk about the existence of gluten in Coca-Cola. We will also discuss what gluten is in the first place and why it’s too rare to find it in the Coke drink.
What Is Gluten and Where Can You Find It?
Gluten is nothing more than a protein that is adjacent to cereals like:
- Barley
- Wheat
- Rye
- Triticale
It is one of the proteins that are necessary to keep the different substances in the wheat together.
That means it has a gluey action that gives you a chance to have a homogenous mix when you create dough from wheat or rye flour.
Even though gluten was present in all the existing dough (except the ones made from special wheat produced in Ancient Greece and Egypt), it is responsible for several gastrointestinal intolerance episodes in kids and adults.
At this point, it would be interesting to list the ingredients of Coca-Cola and see if there is a chance to have gluten in any of them.
That will make you more knowledgeable about gluten and Coca-Cola the next time you decide to open a bottle or a can.
Ingredients in Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola is a simple soft drink that has all the following ingredients inside:
- Water
- Fructose Corn Syrup
- Caramel Color
- Natural Flavor Enhancers
- Secret Coke Particles
- Caffeine
- Phosphoric Acid
- Carbon Dioxide
As you can see, there are no other carbs in Coke other than corn syrup. In that case, you see that corn has no gluten at all, so we can say that Coca-Cola is a gluten-free beverage.
People who suffer from coeliac may agree that drinking Coke in smaller or higher quantities could not affect their disease.
However, you need to drink it responsibly to protect your intestinal and stomach function at all times.
Can Coeliacs Drink Coca-Cola?
People suffering from coeliac can drink coca-cola even though they have to get their doctor’s advice before. Coeliac is an inflammatory disease of the thin intestine.
You can have unbearable abdominal pain that becomes worse when you eat products rich in gluten. These products include the following:
- Beer
- Ale
- Bread
- Crackers
- Cookies
- Pies
- Cakes
- Communion Wafers
- Pasta and Rice
These are some of the commonly used foods made from white wheat and are rich in gluten. There is a chance that you can find some of these foods gluten-free.
The food industry has invented a way to remove gluten from certain wheat and flour.
However, this comes at a price since gluten-free products are generally 50% more expensive than the usual ones.
Does Carbonization In Coca-Cola Affect Carbs?
There is absolutely no connection between the carbon dioxide of Coca-Cola and the carbs intake. In other words, carbon dioxide is a gas that will get into your stomach and then into the air.
As a result, there is no chance to react with any Coca-Cola ingredient and transform it into gluten using a magical way.
After all, Coke (in any of its forms and flavors) will never worsen the coeliac you already have.
That happens because there is no additional gluten in the carbon dioxide, and it cannot evolve from it no matter how hard you try.
Can Simple Sugars in Coca-Cola Transform into Gluten?
As mentioned before, Coca-Cola is full of corn syrup. That is the main sweetening substance in Coca-Cola.
There is no chemical path to create proteins from carbohydrates. Corn syrup is a long-chain carbohydrate made from thousands of simple sugar (maltose or dextrose) particles.
These particles can get dissolved and give you energy within the cells, following the famous Krebs cycle.
However, there is no way to create gluten from simple carbs. As a result, you may assume to have safe Coke consumption when you are a coeliac patient.
What Are the Effects of Gluten?
Even though men kind has been in close touch with gluten since the ancient years, there was no previous mention of side effects. Gluten has been there in wheat for thousands of years.
However, wheat entered human nutrition only after the Stone age. People started cultivating wheat for their daily needs as a superfood to contain too much energy.
Today people overconsume carbohydrates without having the same calorie needs as their ancestors who lived in caves and were hunting cattle for survival.
As a result, the excessive amounts of carbs consumption and the adjacent gluten overconsumption could lead to side effects like:
- Intestine and abdomen bloating
- Digestive stress
- Nausea
- Obesity
In the following paragraph, we are about to discuss the symptoms of gluten intolerance.
If you want to drink a coke can, you surely can, but pay attention to the gluten overconsumption and intolerance symptoms to always be well-prepared.
Symptoms of Gluten Intolerance
Different people may have various symptoms when suffering from gluten intolerance.
Even though most of the symptoms come from the intestine system, it’s good to mention them for you to know:
- Diarrhea
- Constipation
- Indigestion
- Stomach Aches
- Constant farting
- Abdominal Bloating
We can see that these symptoms are the classic prequels of coeliacs, so you need to visit your gastroenterologist to give you the proper treatment.
If you decide to drink Coca-Cola when you have gluten intolerance symptoms, be sure to ask your doctor first.
In any case, don’t overdo it with Coke, and stay close to one glass daily.
Final Words
It’s obvious that Coca-Cola is ultimately a gluten-free product.
You can consume it with care when you suffer from gluten intolerance, but there is no reason to deprive yourself of Coke consumption.
