Does Coca-Cola Cause Impotence?

According to Business Insider, the world drinks 1.7 billion 8 ounce servings of Coca-Cola every day. Coca-Cola’s logo can be identified by 94 percent of the world’s population. Coca-Cola is a major cultural phenomenon. Therefore, it is not surprising that so many folk tales, myths, and rumors circulate about the frizzy soft drink. In the past, people imbued the dark drink with a host of healing powers. I cannot count how many times my great grandmother told me that Coca-Cola soothed an upset stomach. In today’s more health conscious world, Coca-Cola’s healing powers have been replaced with feelings and rumors that Coca- Cola is secretly destroying the body. One of the more recent rumors claims that Coca-Cola can cause impotence. So can drinking too much Coca-Cola cause impotence? Tina Kold Jensen and colleagues in Copenhagen, Denmark published one of the largest studies on soft drink consumption and infertility in 2010 in the “American Journal of Epidemiology.” The researchers examined the sperm quality of 2,554 Danish men and conducted surveys to determine the rate of soft drink consumption. The researchers found that high-intake soda drinkers (who consume >1 liter a day) had lower sperm concentrations and quality. Yet the researchers were unable to explain the results. The researchers were able to determine that caffeine is an unlikely explanation, but the researchers were unable to determine if the lower sperm quality came from a generally unhealthy lifestyle or actual soda consumption.