DozingAnt- ” Do you think the phosphoric acid used in the sodas upset the calcium phosphate balance we strive to maintain?”
The short answer is no. In fact, even with the phosphoric acid, it probably improves the ratio.
The amount of phosphorus in 12 ounces of Coke or Pepsi (or probably any cola) is about 60mg, a tiny amount in itself. Peat has also suggested that sucrose (and particularly the fructose component) will lower overall phosphate levels. This has been shown in many animal experiments, as well as some human experiements.
If you remember the William Brown experiment that Peat was fond of citing, Brown ate 2500 calories a day, mostly in the form of skim milk and sugar. The milk would have provided 4g of phosphorus, but during the experiment, Brown’s serum phosphate levels decreased. He was also getting about 5g of calcium from the milk, but Peat thought the lowered phosphate levels were due to the lack of PUFA in the diet, as well as the high amount of sucrose (and therefore, fructose).
So even with the tiny amount of phosphorus, drinking cola should have net negative effect on phosphate levels. Peat always suggested keeping the calcium to phosphate ratio high, especially higher than 1:1, but said that even a ratio of 0.5:1 might be okay, if fructose intake was high.
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