14 DAY TRIAL // It’s not for nothing that health experts are constantly warning us of the health dangers of fizzy drinks in general. Coca Cola also falls in this category, despite recent efforts on behalf of the company to make it healthier and help people become more aware of the high amount of calories they’re ingesting with just one can. Lisa McKay from the UK got to see on her own just how bad Coke is for one’s health and waistline, after she developed a 20-can a day addiction to the beverage and saw her weight skyrocket, the Daily Mail informs.
As expected, McKay claims she had no idea Coca Cola could have such devastating effects on one’s body, though many would argue that common sense alone should have told her that she wasn’t doing her body any favors by drinking 20 cans a day. Not only did her weight balloon by over 120 kilograms, but she was also forced to get gastric bypass and surgically have her stomach reduced in order to start losing weight. It wasn’t until then that she realized the magnitude of her problem – and how urgent it was for her to take action.
“She was getting through 20 cans of Coke a day – and was so addicted that she would wake up at 4am for another fix. At the age of 24, she weighed 19st 4lb, had to book two airplane seats when she went on holiday and couldn’t walk more than a few yards without getting breathless. So the mother of two underwent a gastric band operation and banned Coke from her home. The 25-year-old has now lost almost 10st and has compared giving up fizzy drinks to ‘alcohol withdrawal’,” the Mail writes after speaking to the woman.
‘It was difficult giving up drinking Coke. I was addicted to it and I had severe withdrawal symptoms after stopping. I was suffering from shakes. The gastric band operation was the best thing I’ve done. I haven’t drunk a mouthful of Coke since and I never will again. I would buy a box of 30 cans of Coke and it would last me a day and a half. I didn’t realize that there was so much sugar in Coke that would make me so fat. The more Coke I drank, the more hungry I became too,” McKay explains for the same publication.
Determined to turn over a new page, McKay underwent gastric bypass surgery in August last year, and has already recorded remarkable progress in terms of weight loss. She went from a dress size 30 to a slimmer 10 and says that having the surgery was the only thing that helped her fight her Coca Cola addiction. Another plus is that, now, she can run after her two sons without becoming breathless.