Can Coca-Cola Help in Anti-ageing? Read the Fact Check

Frizzy drinks are one of the favorite beverages among all age groups, besides the taste now people are claiming its new use – It helps in anti-aging!!

A Facebook user account named Anmol Hindi shared a video with the caption “Coca-Cola Viral Anti Aging Face Mask | A Magical Anti-Aging Mask”.

The video has shown that if we boil Coca-Cola and soap together and then apply on the skin then it will start glowing.

Fact Check

To know the truth of the viral claim, the DFRAC team searched some keywords on Google. We found one research and some media coverage that claims, there is no such benefit of applying Coca-Cola on the skin.

Research by UCSF

We found a study from the University of California San Francisco in which they said, “Regular consumption of sugar-sweetened sodas might influence disease development, not only by straining the body’s metabolic control of sugars, but also through accelerated cellular aging of tissues”.

Cindy Leung, ScD, from the UCSF Center for Health and Community and the lead author of the newly published study said, “Here it appeared that the only beverage consumption that had a measurable negative association with telomere length was consumption of sugared soda.” Telomeres are the protective units of DNA that cap the ends of chromosomes in cells. They were found shorter in the white blood cells of survey participants who reported drinking more soda. Telomere length shortens on average with chronological age, the UCSF researchers calculated that daily consumption of a 20-ounce soda was equivalent to an average of 4.6 years of telomere shortening.

Media coverage

We found one media report of The Independent which says, “While some feel that Coca-Cola can speed up your tan, it actually can be dangerous, and I recommend staying away from it,” skin expert Joshua Zeichner told Allure.

Hindustan Times quoted the same research done by UCSF

 Conclusion

It is clear from the DFRAC fact check that the claim is false. It has been found that consumption of soft drinks can accelerate ageing.