Addicted To Sugar? This Doctor Says It's 'The New Tobacco'

Caffeine and sugar are two well-known ingredients in Coca-Cola — but many soda drinkers may not realize the fizzy beverage also contains salt.

But why add salt into a sugary drink? To make consumers thirsty and ready to buy more, says Dr. Robert Lustig, professor of pediatric endocrinology at the University of California, San Francisco.

“They know what they’re doing. Do you have to put salt in Coke?” he says. “The fact is, you don’t have to put salt in soda. So this is by design.”

This is part of what Lustig calls “the Coca-Cola conspiracy” and it’s contributing a dangerous sugar problem in the U.S.

Nutrition experts are increasingly sounding the alarm, with some comparing its to smoking.