I've always said, I'd never give up my diet soda unless I had a clear-cut medical reason for doing so, and now I do.
Kidney stones. I've got one. {Sigh}
Caffeine, artificial sweeteners and carbonated beverages can contribute to and aggravate kidney and bladder stones, so I've had to give them all up, cold-turkey.
It's been about two weeks, and the cravings are only now starting to weaken. I miss the carbonation most. I WANT MY BUBBLES!
The PA said I could have a glass of club soda now and then (like once a week), but I think it's too soon to try moderation. When I've stopped missing the bubbles, maybe.
I can have plant-based sweeteners (stevia, monkfruit, xylitol...).
That must have been tough, dealing with the cravings for 2 weeks! Are you having just plain water?
Sorry about your kidney stones. I've never had one, but I hear they're excruciating. I'm sure that's enough to keep you away! I hope you're feeling better!
I've quasi given up sodas for a while, but I had one once in a great while. I was still using things like mio and what not up until a couple weeks ago then quit. I've been filling the void with a little lemon or lime juice in water and herbal tea. I bought some wonderful ones from teavana the other day. Wild Orange Blossom is my favorite.
Giving up soft soda's and sweet tea is tough! I was lucky and gave sodas up because I was on a medicine that made them have a gross metal taste. Once I was taken off the meds I just never started back (except for the very very very rare diet root beer). Once your body adjusts to not drinking them you'll begin craving water and won't even miss the soda anymore!
Yow -- have you passed your stone yet? I've heard horror stories... I hope you're feeling better!
I've given up diet soda in the past year and, kind of like the cigarettes I gave up 20 years ago, the thought of it makes me a little nauseated now. My stomach turned just watching my friend add Splenda (3 to be exact) to her coffee. I bet in a few months you will be completely "over it!"
I think we'll find out one day that the plant-based sweeteners aren't exactly good for us, either. I read a story about how processed stevia is by the time it hits the shelf -- after all, the word "natural" on food products means absolutely nothing.
I love water with lots of ice and some lime or lemon. Helps to have a lemon tree out back.
Wow. I didn't realize that carbonated water contributed to that...and here I was contemplating on making myself tea-pop with carbonated water! Is carbonated water bad doe you or does it just aggravate certain things?
Sorry to hear you've had to give up something you love Kaplods, I pray you are feeling better every day and that you are able to find an alternative you love even more!
Oh those cute little bubbles that make your mouth go AHHHHH!! Yes, I can relate! I had to give up on sweet tea, sodas and anything else that wasn't water because I have reoccurring UTI's and the only thing that keeps it from happening over and over again is drinking lots and LOTS of water.
One thing that might help for you is adding some lemon or lime to your water. I even add Stevia occasionally and make my own little weak version of lemonade or limeade. Also, experiment with different waters. For me I like spring water. It's got a really clean taste to it in my opinion compared to the "drinking" or "distilled" water you can buy. I had to get creative with water cause I was getting bored and missed my soda. After a while I didn't miss it as much.
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May Goal: GET OUT OF THE 300'S AND NEVER GO BACK. GET INTO THE 200'S AND MAKE A DENT!
Affirmation: I am NOT defined by my weight but by who I am on the inside and how I CHOSE to live my life. Healthy!
Last edited by JenDestiny; 05-14-2015 at 08:02 PM.
Wow. I didn't realize that carbonated water contributed to that...and here I was contemplating on making myself tea-pop with carbonated water! Is carbonated water bad doe you or does it just aggravate certain things?
Sorry to hear you've had to give up something you love Kaplods, I pray you are feeling better every day and that you are able to find an alternative you love even more!
There are too many factors to declare any food or food additive good or bad. Most are good for some health issues and bad for others. They're only bad or good (or neutral) in the context of everything else you're eating, and in terms of your unique physiology, current health and your personal health goals.
Carbonated beverages, and even the artificial sweeteners aren't necessarily a problem for everyone, especially in small or even moderate dose, but for most of the last 40 years, I drank quite alot of caffeinated diet sodas daily (6 or more cans in a day wasn't all that unusual in my 20's and 30's (15-25 years ago).
If you have ever had, or have a family history of bladder or kidney stones, you may want to talk to your doctor or see a dietitian about diet, because there are a a lot of other foods (many are even thought of as very "healthy") beside sodas and sweeteners that can contribute to, or aggravate stones (or other health issues).
I was given a pamphlet of foods, beverages, and ingredients to avoid or limit. Some I'll be able to add back in if/after we find out what my kidney stone is made of, as different foods cause different kinds of stones.
One kind of stone means I have to limit dairy and calcium, and another type means I have to take calcium supplements.
Yow -- have you passed your stone yet? I've heard horror stories... I hope you're feeling better!
I've given up diet soda in the past year and, kind of like the cigarettes I gave up 20 years ago, the thought of it makes me a little nauseated now. My stomach turned just watching my friend add Splenda (3 to be exact) to her coffee. I bet in a few months you will be completely "over it!"
I think we'll find out one day that the plant-based sweeteners aren't exactly good for us, either. I read a story about how processed stevia is by the time it hits the shelf -- after all, the word "natural" on food products means absolutely nothing.
I love water with lots of ice and some lime or lemon. Helps to have a lemon tree out back.
Haven't passed it yet, but I'm told it's small and my doctor prescribed Flomax which is supposed to help reduce the pain by preventing bladder spasms.
I agree that natural doesn't really mean anything, but neither does processed really. Canned (processed) veggies can be a healthier choice than "fresh" produce in many instances, because canned veggies are picked at peak ripeness and canned within hours (sometimes minutes) of being picked, while "fresh" produce may have been picked weeks or even months before (some fruits and veggies may have been picked nearly a year before, as with late summer apples).
Plant and animal foods that are are unsafe or even highly toxic in their natural state can become safe, wholesome and healthy with varying degrees of processing (such as cashews, acorns, taro, sleeper shark...) and many man-made frankenfood ingredients can be completely safe and even healthy or beneficial.
There's costs and benefits, pros and cons, to every food and food ingredient, natural or processed, so it all has to be considered on a case by case basis and in the context of the whole diet and personal health circumstances.
Processed foods aren't bad because they're processed - it all depends on the method of processing, how nutrients affected by the processing, what is added or taken away during the processing, and the way people use processed foods (how much, how often, and what else are they eating or not eating because of reliance on processed foods).
It all seems hopelessly confusing and complicated, mostly because nutrition and food science isn't common knowledge.
Using artificial sweeteners wasn't my problem, using then in extreme excess for decades was. I may have gotten a kidney stone anyway, because people certainly got kidney stones before modern times. Regardless, I now have to avoid them to prevent future stones, but I also have to avoid rhubarb, kale, shrimp, and other healthy foods.
Oh those cute little bubbles that make your mouth go AHHHHH!! Yes, I can relate! I had to give up on sweet tea, sodas and anything else that wasn't water because I have reoccurring UTI's and the only thing that keeps it from happening over and over again is drinking lots and LOTS of water.
One thing that might help for you is adding some lemon or lime to your water. I even add Stevia occasionally and make my own little weak version of lemonade or limeade. Also, experiment with different waters. For me I like spring water. It's got a really clean taste to it in my opinion compared to the "drinking" or "distilled" water you can buy. I had to get creative with water cause I was getting bored and missed my soda. After a while I didn't miss it as much.
Citrus fruits are on my shopping list, to add to my water. I use tap water because our local tap water is of excellent flavor and quality, I also have a bit of a "thing" against bottled waters after watching a couple water documentaries and TED talks on Netflix.
Most bottled waters are just someone else's tap water, and the waters that aren't tap water can be worse. Tap water quality standards are much stricter than for bottled waters. Most are no worse than tap water, they're just not any better.
I know its hard giving up soft drinks, I have managed it these days but I was drinking up to 3 litres of the stuff per day in the past and had never ending stomach aches as a result. Now that I have kicked it I feel much better and find myself enjoying water a lot more than I used to. It used to be that I refused to drink water and would only drink my pepsi-max.
I feel lucky that I had an easy time of giving up soda. Soda wasn't allowed in my house growing up, so that definitely made a difference. My soda drinking habit came about as an adult.
As with anything it's all about learning and unlearning habits. I gave up diet sodas a few years ago, at the same time gave up all artificial sweeteners and it was super tough. I did it by switching to seltzer and that helped because I indeed loved the bubbles!
But last year I was diagnosed with GERD and had to give up my fizzy water too. It felt very unfair but I did it and now I'm fine. Occasionally I'll indulge in a diet soda or a seltzer but 95% of my liquid consumption is water.
You don't have to act like a bouquet of lillies when you're quitting something. I b***ed and whined like a sore loser while giving up artificial sweeteners and seltzer too. There came a day though when I woke up and didn't feel like throttling anyone within a 15ft radius so that's when I knew I got through it.
Last edited by Palestrina; 06-15-2015 at 07:40 AM.
Giving up artificial sweeteners and carbonation
