Soft Drink

Food · Drink · Food, Typed Supps

The whole range splits in two: sweetened with sugar, or sweetened with something that carries no kilojoules.

Stage by stage

Intake (Teeth and tongue): Acid and carbonation reach enamel before anything is swallowed; this applies equally to the diet versions.
Stomach (Nothing to slow it): With no fibre, fat or protein present, the drink leaves the stomach quickly and unchanged.
Bloodstream (Rapid glucose rise): Sugar is absorbed within minutes, producing one of the steepest glycaemic responses available from any food or drink.
Central nervous system (Caffeine, in some of them): Colas carry roughly 10mg caffeine per 100mL and energy drinks around 32mg. The alertness comes from that, not from the sugar.

Time to effect

Under an hour: Blood glucose from a sugar-sweetened can rises within roughly 15 to 30 minutes and settles within about two hours.

Allergens

None of the fourteen major allergens. Derived from what this food is, not from a product label.

Eating patterns

Fits: Vegan, Vegetarian, Pescatarian, Halal, Kosher, Gluten-free. Depends on the product: Keto, Low-FODMAP.

Satiety

Not scored: the satiety index is measured on 240 kcal servings, and nobody eats a 240 kcal serving of this. The question does not apply rather than the answer being unknown.

Cost band

Cheap — roughly £2.5 per kg, as a band midpoint rather than a price.

Key nutrients

Nutrition per 100g

Calories: 34
Protein: 0g
Carbohydrate: 8.8g
of which sugars: 8.8g
Fat: 0g
of which saturated: 0g
Fibre: 0g
Sodium: 12mg

Food vs. supplement

No supplement comparison applies here. The only nutrient worth naming in the family is caffeine, and coffee or tea supplies it in a known dose without the added sugar; the B vitamins and taurine listed on energy drinks have no demonstrated effect at the doses used.

Kitchen tip

Sipping slowly over an hour is worse for teeth than drinking the same volume quickly, because erosion tracks contact time. Soda water with lemon or bitters gives the carbonation and the ritual without the sugar; tonic does not, despite tasting less sweet than it is.

Common myth

“Tonic water is a healthier mixer than lemonade.” In reality: Tonic water carries roughly 8.8g of sugar per 100g, close to lemonade. Quinine makes it taste bitter rather than sweet, which is a flavour difference rather than a nutritional one.