Not holding back any punches today. I have a serious hate for the soda, pop, carbonated beverage industry. Anyone seen New Jack City? They send Chris Rock’s character into the crack lab. He’s blindfolded to get there, strip searched and dressed in a diaper, cavity searched on the way out. When I think of pop being made, that’s what I imagine. Only it’s totally legal.
So in Letterman style, here’s my 10 reasons why diet soda should not be your friend.
- Destroys tooth enamel.
- Will not help you lose weight.
- Encourages sweet tooth and sugar cravings.
- Delivered in a plastic container.
- Disrupts intestinal bacteria.
- Distorts taste buds.
- It is a laboratory produced chemical.
- Aspartame.
- Decreases your water intake.
- It is addictive. And it is hurting you. (That’s a bonus)
Those of you ignoring this list because you drink regular soda, don’t. You are most definitely getting fat from the evils of high fructose corn syrup on top of the above list.
Why are you drinking soda? I really want to know. I have to assume most educated people know that it is terrible. Please tell me, why is North America (and the world) obsessed with pop?
i love diet coke and drink an average of about 4 cans a day. my parents never drank coffee so soda was the standard source of caffeine in our house when i was growing up. i like the flavor, the feel of the carbonation, and the caffeine. i have never had a cavity so it’s obviously not seriously disrupting my tooth enamel and i’ve asked several of my doctors about the water intake issue and they told me that the diet coke i drink can be counted towards water intake.
Thanks for your honesty Carrie. That’s the first I’ve heard about a caffinated drink counting as water. Caffeine is dehydrating. I’ll look into it more.
I drink Coke Zero on occasion. Not very often, but sometimes. It’s most certainly not a daily thing and more times than not it’s not a weekly thing either. We buy it in cans so #4 doesn’t apply. Not that aluminium is any better than plastic …
Why? I dunno. I like it occasionally.
The kids NEVER get pop/soda. They get milk, water, natural juices and sometimes koolaid. Mostly the first two on that list.
Uhmm, Samantha, cans are lined with plastic.
I stopped drinking soda. I mean there are days I broke and a can of pop or when I go out I’ll order soda. I drank it when I was younger and didn’t gain a pound and I knew it was bad for me but still did it. Now I hardly ever drink pop and it will only be in the house when we have parties. Mike and I don’t drink it but our guests do.
As for diet sodas what makes me laugh is when people order the unhealthiest burger with a large or super size fries and orders a diet soda, like huh???
I won’t be introducing my daughter to soda, but I know she will find it somewhere.
Clarabel is 6 and has never had a soft drink. They’ve had carbonated Perrier and San pellegrino. They don’t like it much. Too bubbly.
If you don’t drink it likely your daughter won’t either.
Kristin, as soon as I hit comment I thought to myself “Self, duh, there is a plastic coating in the can to protect (and lets use the word protect lightly) us from the metal …” So yup. I know, I’m just slow this morning.
[...] has a great post over on her blog titled 10 Reasons Diet Soda Should Not Be Your Friend and is a good overview as to why soda, even diet soda, is unhealthy for you. Thanks Kristin! [...]
Oh soda…
I LOVE pepsi. I don’t let myself have it often.
We buy soda for parties or large events, so it’s a treat for the kids. We don’t keep it in the house, only juice (all juice, no “kinda juices.”)
But…I like Fresca.
I am a crazy calorie counting person from lifelong dieting. And if I can get a sweet, cold drink for no calories, I will drink it. And I’ve read about a sugar-free drink INCREASING sweet craving, but… I crave sweets all the time. Every channel, 24 hours. Long before I ever started drinking diet soda (which has only been in the last couple of years.) I don’t know why I do, but I do. So, it’s hard to notice an appreciable increase up from ALWAYS.
But I also don’t tolerate ANY artificial sweetener well (I’ll get a headache), so I’m don’t allow myself more than one per day.
It’s a love/hate relationship.
Have you ever heard of sugar addiction? I just read a book by Kathleen desMaisons. She’s studied it, has a PhD and everything. I am going to do a post about it.
I think limiting yourself is wise. I can’t imagine what a can of pop would do to my headaches!
Oh I hate soda and yet I drink it every day. I didn’t used to up until the last 3 months after having my third. I’m just exhausted and need the caffeine in the afternoon. I hate it, hate it, hate it. I hate that I’m addicted to it now and I hate thinking about all that junk going into my body. Got to switch to green tea, it’s just not as refreshing in the summer. And my kids never, ever get soda, just milk or water. Juice about twice a month.
You just need to stop! Try brewing the tea with some honey and mint then chilling it and having it as iced tea. Mint is invigorating so it will add a little hit of energy too.
Sometimes I crave soda. I usually will get fruit punch or lemonade over soda at a restaurant, unless I really want soda. We don’t really ever have soda at our house either, except for my husband who LOVES himself some Mountain Dew. So I guess I just drink soda cause it just sounds good sometimes. Lame reason, but eh.
Usually the fruit drinks have just as much sugar and chemicals as the soda. I do love lemonade though.
If you don’t think you would miss it, try cutting it out.
I like sodas but not too much of it please. I don’t like highly carbonated soda (I think it depends on the brand how much they put in).
I know soda is bad, actually my doctor’s-wife friend tells me that diet soda can give you colon cancer (one more for on your list). But as with everything, it’s about amounts: a little doesn’t hurt (much). I drink about one glass a day of it and not every day.
Our kids get it sometimes at home, and when we’re in restaurants. Same with sweets, actually (they get it sometimes). I think if you make foods a big no-no then kids will go out and get it when they can eventually.
I like soda because it’s sweet, it’s watery (not thick like juice (which is also bad, actually)), you can drink a lot of it when you’re thirsty without it getting boring.
Thanks for your comment Judith. My kids have never had soda and they are not asking for it. The times they’ve sipped my mom’s soda water or perrier, they find it too bubbly.
Really, I don’t think most people realize that it is bad, or how it affects your whole body.
Ugh. It is definitely an addiction. I can go six months without soda…then one day I go to my parents’ house and they order pizza and hand me a Diet Coke or Coke Zero. The very next day after lunch I’ll have an overwhelming urge to go to Speedway for a soda. It tastes disgusting, leaves a nasty coating on my teeth, and sometimes gives me horrifying migraines and occasionally back spasms. There are so many reasons not to drink it, but if you drink one, you start craving more and more. Whatever ingredient gives you the craving should be illegal. The last decade of my life has been spent going off of pop again and again.
There are all kinds of conspiracies about Coke and their ingredients. My feeling is that they know it’s addictive and they are ok with that.
I think you need to make a committment to yourself to not eat/drink something that you know is going to make you feel rotten.
I’m going to share this list with a few friends. I used to enjoy the occasional diet coke until I got pregnant. Now I can confidently say I will never again touch the stuff. Yuck.
Thanks Lucy!
I’m addicted. I have at least a two liter bottle of coke a day. REAL coke, not the diet kind. Yes, I know I’d lose the extra 35 lbs I have if I stopped and yes, I realize on an intellectual level that it’s the brew of Satan but i don’t care. Like Carrie, no one in my house drank coffee and ‘coke or pepsi’ as it’s all called in the south, was our caffeine of choice.
Not to justify this because I don’t feel I have to…but few people live their lives entirely without vice. I’m willing to let this be mine.
Thanks for your honest response. You’ve given me something to think about. What is my vice?
Thanks for the informative list. Carbonation is my weakness I love Dr Pepper!
Good luck with the 31DBBB, and hopefully I see more of your posts!
-Katie
Thanks for the comment.
I’m with you, my hubby and I never drink the poison…my girls have no idea what it is!
Knew you would agree.
Hi Everyone;
I know that I am on side with Kristin with this one….My kids have never had soda and my oldest is 5, near enough 6. I very seldom have soda, but when I do, it is diet. I know that there are all kinds of bad things in it, but sometimes it is just filling a need. I used to always drink soda as a kid growing up, so it was second nature to me. I used to travel a lot, and my parents weren’t very well educated when it comes to meal planning and balancing sugars. I have learned a lot over the years, and I have come to the same conclusion about the forbidden fruit. I have a friend, who never allowed her kids to drink soda, but she always had it in the house for when company came over. The one day, her eldest drank like 6 cans of coke and then hid the cans in the basement…She wondered why her daughter was sick everywhere…..LOL….I will let my kids try it if the situation was presented to me. I hold the same theory about alcohol….If you don’t let them try it in front of you, what are they doing behind your back….????
Ciao for now
Thanks for the comment Heather. I think you have a great point about letting your kids try but educating them about it at the same time.
Interesting that the little girl didn’t stop at one or two, kept drinking until she was sick. Really speaks to the addictiveness.
The only time i drink pop is in mixed drinks. Pop for me = mix. Thats it. It should be treated the same way as rum. Mixed in these measures. One part Rum one part Ice and Coke to colour. Too much Coke will make the drink much too sweet. Some people I know will not add lime due to doggy farming practices and preping of the fruit by a bar tender. His argument is compelling but I still add lime because it is the only healthy part of a drink. Kids should not be given pop until they turn 19.
I’d like everyone to meet James. His rum and coke advice is sound and should be followed.
It should be noted that if I EVER drink pop it’s because James mixed me a drink.
You’re right. I stopped today. Mint does sound refreshing, I’ll have to pick some up. Thanks for the kick in the rear.
Awesome!! That’s fantastic. Let me know how it goes. Do you have a garden? Mint grows like a weed.
I rarely drink soda – I just have never really been a fan. I drink lots of water, I like a nice glass of chilled white wine in the summer and a glass of warming red in the winter and I do admit to a daily does of coffee but decaf only. My husband and I were talking about this last weekend actually as he really now has to lose some weight in order to get and stay healthy, and he was saying that he wants to give up his diet cokes as part of this campaign. Good post.
It’s a good place to start. And now I am wishing I had a chilled glass of white.
Yeah, Carrie, I’m not sure you can count soft drink as part of your water intake because it contains caffeine, which is a diuretic and strips your body of the liquid it needs!
I really liked this post though. The list format definitely works well to provide a lot of information in a short amount of reading time. Nicely done!
http://makenart.blogspot.com/2010/07/10-things-that-equal-happiness.html
Thanks for your comment.
I’ve never drunk soda and am really grateful for that. My parents drank soda all the time but we kids weren’t allowed and I never got into it. I drink water, seltzer, and iced green tea (and hot tea when it’s cold). My husband, on the other hand, drank a huge amount of soda (Pepsi) every day since he was very young. He quit soda altogether (never went through the diet phase, I wouldn’t allow him to drink aspertame) about six months ago and lost 40 pounds. Without changing anything else. He’s down to his normal weight (lighter than me, actually) and looks and feels fabulous. Unfortunately, my husband’s sense of taste has really been ruined by so much soda. He thinks everything that doesn’t contain corn syrup (like iced tea, for example) tastes like “dirty water” which I think is just plain sad. Bottom line: Corn syrup is evil and I avoid it completely for myself and my kids.
I’m really enjoying your blog, just added it to my blogroll so I can regularly check in!
40 lbs!! That’s a lot of weight.
My husband is wondering how long until his taste buds readjust if at all. Keep us posted.
Thanks for adding us to your blogroll.
Glad you linked to this one for your homework. Short, sweet and to the point!
Ahhh, diet soda. Yeah. It’s evil. I never drank soda because I never thought it tasted good. Unless it was at a restaurant (which I don’t frequent) because as a kid, when we lived in Florida, restaurant water just tasted bad. Maybe it still does. Plus, I loved ordering Shirley Temples.
Then I worked in an office. All the people with kids got to come in late or leave early. People who smoked got to go on cigarette breaks. People who drank coffee go to go on coffee breaks. Anybody higher on the food chain got to just disappear or leave to go play golf or get their Ferrari fixed (I wish I were kidding). With no vices and no kids I didn’t have any special privileges until I realized I could make a take a vending machine break. (these were popular by all the above groups so they got EXTRA breaks!) Well, not being hungry and not liking soda I decided on Diet Coke. And it IS addictive. And there you have it. That is how I started drinking soda, even though I didn’t really like it. Because it wasn’t okay just to take a break (even though we were supposedly allowed them), you had to have a reason. Stupid, huh?
Thanks for reading Alyna. Here’s a challenge- why don’t you stop. Give a week, see if you miss it.
I have! And I do miss it (addictive!) but I stop and then start and stop again. It isn’t the caffeine. Fortunately, I do drink a lot of water and I abstain more often than not and enjoy tea immensely so I try to go for that instead. Here’s the thing: when I’m out and I want something more than water – I don’t like my low calorie options so then I reach for a diet soda.
I couldn’t agree with you more. These are all the reasons I stopped drinking regular sodas when I was 13 and that was many moons ago LOL.
Good list
Thanks for stopping by my place
Smart choice! Thanks for the comment.
There was a time when I drank Diet Coke all day long. I bought it in the large bottles and just kept my glass full.
Then, when I began thinking about having a baby, I stopped buying it so that my baby would have the best start possible. That was nearly five years ago.
The BPA, aspartame, and the fact that I’m nursing keep me away now.
Whenever I catch a glimpse of it at the grocery store, it beckons me, but I refuse to buy it. I have to confess that a couple of times a month when out to lunch or dinner I do have one glass. I know I shouldn’t…I really do. Sigh.
It seems that once you get the taste for it, it keeps calling you forever. Good job resisting!
I stopped drinking soda entirely at the beginning of the year. I’m a big PH Diet follower and truly believe that everything in Diet Coke is Cancer Causing. We know cancer thrives in a acidic state and grows rapidly. So what to do? Try to make your body high in alkaline. I’ve known people that have reduced tumors to nothing by drinking alkaline water. I’m a huge proponent of this. I don’t even require any caffeine, the Alkaline water energizes me and I don’t get the sluggish feeling every day at 3pm any more. Sometimes it’s hard to stay away from Soda because it is everywhere, but I never travel without my water bottle… even when we vacation!
That’s great that you cut it out. I’ve heard a lot that if you were a drinker you will continue to crave it. I wonder for how long?
Thanks for your comment.
My MIL has been reading a lot about PH eating too. I will have to look into alkaline water.
I’ve also heard diet soda pickles you…helps the embalmer, I suppose.
I think I was born with a Pepsi in my hand!! It was a family thing. Now, I am a habitual Caffiene-Free Diet Pepsi drinker. I have tried unsuccessfully quitting soda alot. For me, it’s not the caffiene (obviously) but rather the HABIT of drinking it along with the flavor goes hand in hand with my meals, etc…
Like how milk goes with cookies……my CFDP goes with my lunch and dinner. I have tried replacing with water (I do drink alot of water aside from soda, about 72oz.) at meals, but it is not the same and I don’t feel satisfied. On a plus side, I have managed to ONLY drink soda when I am eating lunch or dinner. It used to be ALL day! At least I drink water all througout the day other than meals.
Actually, I came across this site while Googleing for ways to quit soda for good. Funny how I managed to quit smoking 4 years ago — but that soda is harder to quit?!?!?!?
I really want to be soda free. I just don’t know of a good way to stop having it and actually KEEP it that way! I am definately open to suggestion. I did see the post about mint water…sounds good, but I don’t know if it will take the place of my dinner-time soda.
Thank you for reading my long-winded post.
Thanks for your comment. I learned a great deal from the comments on this post. Drinking soda really is an addiction. I am afraid that I don’t have much advice for you, having never had to quit it myself. But I can offer my support and be a cheerleader.
Send me an email and I would be happy to help you! peaceloveandmuesli@gmail.com
I cut out all regular soda for myself once I became pregnant with my daughter (I occasionally drink diet soda but it’s rare. I’ve replaced it with unsweetened iced tea). That was almost two years ago. My husband has a serious Diet Pepsi addiction and it really worries me. He drinks around a six pack a day. I could show him studies for weeks on how it is affecting him but he is so stubborn that it doesn’t matter what I say. So he’ll have to learn the hard way.
Great post.