Heavy soda drinking is associated with a myriad of medical problems -- obesity, diabetes, dental caries and metabolic syndrome. Now add another risk to the list -- muscle damage.

Officially it's called cola-induced hypokalaemia, leading to mild muscle weakness to profound paralysis when blood potassium plummets after excessive cola consumption. New research reveals glucose, fructose and caffeine are players in hypokalaemia, with caffeine intoxication thought to play the starring role. Red Bull and cola in a Big Gulp, anyone?

You may only tip back a couple sodas a week, but drinking soda in moderation is not the norm for a host of Americans. Millions slide their straws into super-sized cups of sugar and diet soda daily, then fill up again. The bigger the straw circumference, the better. Single serving plastic soda bottles are now 20 and even 24 ounces.

So what's excessive? The Australian ostrich farmer who developed lung paralysis was drinking 4 to 10 liters a day. A woman with an irregular heartbeat, tiredness and vomiting likely triggered by low blood potassium levels was slurping up to three liters a day. That kind of consumption may not describe you, but soda statistics reveal it's a public health threat for millions. U.S. annual soft drink consumption is estimated at 212 liters per person. Considering the 95th percentile of soft drink consumption for U.S. male teenagers is 83 ounces per day, several million teens alone are potentially facing dangerously low serum potassium levels.

Livestrong dares you to drink more water. No muscle weakness or paralysis are linked to turning the tap over a 32-ounce cup of ice with a biggie straw. No 2X shirts, insulin, dental drills, sin taxes or metabolic syndrome, either.