Trying to lose weight, save money, or help the environment? Not drinking soda can help with all of these goals and more.
1. It packs on the pounds. According to a 2005 study conducted by the University of Texas Health Science Center, drinking one to two cans of soda a day increases a person’s risk of being overweight or obese by 32.8 percent. And if you think diet soda is a better option, think again: The researchers found that those who drank one to two cans of diet soda per day were at an even higher risk (54.5 percent) of being overweight or obese.
2. It puts you at risk for diabetes and heart disease. A 2007 study published in the American Heart Association’s journal Circulation found that people who drink soda every day, whether regular or diet, were 44 percent more likely to develop metabolic syndrome—a condition that greatly increases your risk for heart disease and diabetes.
3. It’s bad for the environment. Believe it or not, many people still don’t recycle their bottles and cans. In fact, it’s estimated that some 50 billion aluminum cans and plastic bottles from soft drinks get thrown into landfills every year. Even if you recycle, the containers are still energy-intensive to mine, produce, and recycle.
4. You’ll still feel thirsty. When it comes to quenching your thirst, water is the gold standard, but herbal tea and fruit juice are also good options. Soda, on the other hand, is likely to make you thirstier because caffeine is a diuretic and sugar interferes with the body’s absorption of fluids.
5. It may cause digestion difficulties. Soda’s effects on digestion are a source of ongoing debate, but some experts believe the phosphoric acid these beverages contain may disturb the acid-alkaline balance of the stomach. As a result, they believe, soda drinkers may develop digestional distress, acid reflux, stomach inflammation, and intestinal erosion.
6. It’s addictive. A 2000 study published in the Archives of Family Medicine revealed that soft-drink manufacturers add caffeine to soda for one reason only: to get consumers hooked. Although this type of addiction may seem benign, experts are quick to point out that caffeine is a stimulant, and once you’re addicted, going cold turkey can create withdrawal symptoms, including fatigue, depression, irritability, tremors, sleep deprivation, and headaches.
7. It doesn’t contain any nutrients. A 20-ounce bottle of cola contains nearly 250 calories, but take a look at the label, and you’ll see that it has virtually no vitamins or minerals. In fact, the only things soda is packed with are sugar and caffeine—two ingredients for which the FDA has no recommended daily allowance.
8. It’s harmful to your teeth and bones. According to a recent Tufts University study, women who drank three 12-ounce colas a day had 5 percent less bone density than women who drink less than a serving a day. As the researchers explained, the phosphoric acid in cola prevents calcium from being absorbed by the body. Not surprisingly, soda is also damaging for teeth: A 2006 study, published in General Dentistry, reported that the citric and/or phosphoric acid in soft drinks can be harmful and corrosive to a healthy smile.
9. It might increase your risk of cancer. Although still controversial, some scientists believe that soda can increase your cancer risk. A 2006 study from Sweden’s Karolinska Institutet supports the theory: Study subjects who drank high quantities of fizzy or syrup-based soft drinks twice a day or more ran a 90 percent higher risk of developing pancreatic cancer than those who never drank them.
10. It’s expensive. Compared to fruit juice or milk, soft drinks may seem cheap, but when you consider the lack of nutritional value, soda seems like a rip-off. And keep in mind that the costs of soda can quickly add up. The average 12-ounce can of soda costs about $1 from the vending machine, so if you drank two a day for a year, you’d spend a whopping $730 on pop every year.
I think the overweight thing is misleading. Maybe people who are overweight drink diet soda to not pack on more calories. This makes it sound like a cause and effect, rather than I know I personally drink diet soda because I am overweight. Granted I have started drinking more water to flush my system, but I don't know if diet sodas causes one to be overweight.
I'm glad they mentioned the teeth and bone density studies. Several months after I stopped drinking soda, I decided to have one as a treat. My teeth felt like they'd been stripped. It was weird. Plus, it tasted weird. I'm glad to have kicked the soda habit.
Realist~ Some of these studies actually show it's the artificial sweeteners changing metabolic limits. Yes, they need to do more studies to have the results be conclusive, but it's not always just a case of people drinking diet because they are conscious of their weight. I know many overweight people who are happy to stay there and don't care about dieting (they drink diet though~kinda weird), so you can't assume that people who drink diet soda are on a diet. I used to be like that too.
I think the overweight thing is misleading. Maybe people who are overweight drink diet soda to not pack on more calories. This makes it sound like a cause and effect, rather than I know I personally drink diet soda because I am overweight. Granted I have started drinking more water to flush my system, but I don't know if diet sodas causes one to be overweight.
It's kind of one of those "everyone is different" things but I honestly think that all the chemicals in soda - especially diet soda - can really mess up some people's systems and may very well contribute to their obesity by altering the way their bodies process foods. There are plenty of 3FC members who have done great without giving up their diet sodas but, for me, nothing worked until I ditched the diet drinks. I couldn't say for sure if quitting the chemicals resulted in a healthier metabolism or just a healthier mental state that puts me more in control of what I eat, but I have no desire to go back to drinking them to find out
I generally agree, although I wonder if those are really the kind of studies that can show cause and effect, of if they just asked questions after the fact, which only shows an association (both things may be caused by some other third factor). I used to drink tons of Diet Coke, and have it rarely now. But oddly enough, reading the article made me crave it! Maybe just because I'm hungry for lunch right now .
Yeah, I'm almost off the stuff. I drink less than a cup each morning with my oatmeal (coke zero). Otherwise, I drink water and very little juice throughout the day. Trying to get completely free of it. You know, it doesn't even taste that good to me anymore. Ha.
I love pepsi max but only drink it if I'm ever in a shop and see some (small bottles) so maybe 2 small bottles a week at the most, the rest of the time I drink water and juice. The problem is it is still difficult to give up!
And what I remain curious about are the links that people who drink soda are more likely to be overweight. Do we know why? any science to back up this theory?
I love pepsi max but only drink it if I'm ever in a shop and see some (small bottles) so maybe 2 small bottles a week at the most, the rest of the time I drink water and juice. The problem is it is still difficult to give up!
And what I remain curious about are the links that people who drink soda are more likely to be overweight. Do we know why? any science to back up this theory?
I'm guessing because of all the sugar? More sugar = more fat. But, that could be said about eating fast food too with all it's crap.
True, but not all sodas use sugar. I've drank sugar free sodas my entire life and still have an issue giving it up and am overweight..
Lots of folks out there with the same issue. My personal (totally uneducated, unscientific, unstudied ) opinion is that the chemicals in artificial sweeteners somehow *trick* some of our bodies into operating off balance and storing more stuff as fat than they normally would. OR, maybe the chemicals are just *plumping* our fat cells kind of like collagen injections plump lips (I just got this mental picture of a whole herd of little fat cells with Angelina Jolie lips )
I was listening to Dr Ronald Hoffman (MD and Homeopathic expert) on the radio and he talked about the connection between diet sodas and people who are more apt to be overweight.
He said there is a correlation that they don't completely understand yet about people who drink diet drinks and why they are more apt to be overweight. But diet drinks are not the cause of being over weight.
His theory is it's NOT the diet drink that causes people to be overweight but that many people who still crave sugar and fatty foods drink lots of diet soda thinking it will negate the fact that they just got a nice healthy salad from the salad bar and put 2500 calories of dressing, nuts, croutons, bacon bits, grilled chicken and cheese on it.
I think the analogy he used was, it's like saying people who get in cars are more apt to die in car accidents.
Then thinking that getting in a car is the reason why people die in car accidents.
Lots of folks out there with the same issue. My personal (totally uneducated, unscientific, unstudied ) opinion is that the chemicals in artificial sweeteners somehow *trick* some of our bodies into operating off balance and storing more stuff as fat than they normally would.
I am a reformed diet Coke drinker and accidently gave it up a few weeks ago. I usually drink at least 2 cans a morning, starting at 8 AM. I ran out at work, so I just didn't go buy more and then I realized--the diet Coke was giving me a false feeling of being hungry! Once I gave it up, my normal breakfast of toast with peanut butter is usually enough now, where I would be dying for a snack to go with the diet Coke because my stomach would be growling.
I don't know if affects everyone the same way, but it seems that too much diet Coke makes me want to eat! I'm not totally off it; I'll still drink it with lunch a couple times a week but I'm not going back to drinking those morning cans of it.
i know this thread is a little old.. but been thinking about it..
IMO I think its a combination of a few different things.. the chemicals and the way each person reacts to it. The fact that even though you're not drinking a sugary drink that makes you hungry, you're still drinking what your body "thinks" is a sugary drink. The sugar alternative is to fool us into thinking there is sugar there, so that we still like it..
Also the whole American motto: Who else goes to McDonald's orders a big mac with a large fry and.... a Diet Coke??-this phenomenon that we actually eat more having diet than regular.. Maybe we think that because there's no calories in the drink, it's "okay" to eat a large fry?..
Give up that soda!
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(I just got this mental picture of a whole herd of little fat cells with Angelina Jolie lips 
)
