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Niraj Naik’s infographic on what happens in the hour after drinking a can of Coca Cola is catchy and concise but its science doesn’t really check out. Naik put up the claims made by an article on Blisstree on his blog The Renegade Pharmacist in May, which has now gone viral.

Over the last few days many rebuttals to the science in the infographic have also hit the internet. Buzzfeed, for instance, checked on whether 10 teaspoons of sugar would make someone want to barf. Turns out, not quite. A nutritional biologist they spoke to said that most people have no trouble consuming 10 teaspoons of sugar-sweetened beverage.

Similarly, the infographic’s claim that an insulin spike causes the liver to turn sugar into fat doesn’t seem to hold either. The insulin spike does take place but fat production depends on how the liver metabolizes all the fructose in the caffeinated drink.

Those who looked beyond the graphic and read Naik’s blog would have seen that The Renegade Pharmacist said as much in the blog post: Fructose is actually only metabolized by the liver and it’s very similar to ethanol (the alcohol in drinks). When you consume it, it’s actually like ethanol but without the high. It confuses the liver and ends up making lots of bad fats in the process. It also doesn’t signal your brain that you are full. This is why people can drink massive cups of fizzy drinks which are high in fructose and still eat huge meals containing refined foods that are also full of fructose.

The sketchy science in the infographic doesn’t change the fact Coke efficiently cleans toilets, dissolvies rust and even corrodes metals. All that fat-causing fructose in Coke is linked to diabetes, coronary problems and obesity. The Center for Science and Public Health in the US is trying to get the message across to the consumer of 1.6 with an ironic spin on the iconic Coca Cola hilltop ad. The health campaigners have cast some of the original actors who are suffering from diabetes, obesity and missing teeth blamed on years of imbibing sugary drinks. The video flips what the center calls "a multi-billion-dollar brainwashing campaign designed to distract us away from our diabetes with happy thoughts."

The original hilltop ad, of course, features in the series finale of Mad Men and had us all smiling for Don Draper and also for Coca Cola. (Spoiler alert: for anyone who still hasn’t watched the last episode of the hit series)

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