By Sara
Do you want to kick your soda habit this year? Try some of these facts on for size.
Did you know that nearly half of all the added sugars Americans consume is from soda? Or how about this: just one 20 ounce Coca Cola contains over 16 teaspoons of sugar. Drinking a soda this size daily equates to drinking 54 pounds of sugar in a year! Doesn’t this just boggle your mind?
Have you taken a look at how much soda you drink on a daily basis and wished you could cut back on this habit? What health benefits might you see if you do succeed at cutting this from your daily consumption? Should you give up Soda? Is your soda addiction getting the best of you? What are the consequences of a regular soda habit?
“Drinking a 20 ounce soda daily equates to drinking 54 pounds of sugar in a year!”
Common effects of a long term daily soda habit:
Some of the most common effects of drinking soda on a regular basis include increased cardiovascular disease risk, weight gain, obesity, diabetes, kidney disease, kidney stones, non-alcoholic liver disease, gout, and cavities.
If these health issues are anything you’re struggling with, I urge you to give up the sugar-laden fizzy drinks. Soda also makes calcium absorption more difficult, thanks to the phosphoric acid in it. This can result in osteoporosis, not to mention cavities. The acidic nature of soda can cause heartburn or acid reflux, due to it irritating your stomach lining. Caffeine has a diuretic effect, so it will actually bring about dehydration.
For all these reasons and more, it’s time to kick your soda habit, girl. Kiss the bubbly sugar drinks goodbye!
Chronic disease is often caused by lifestyle, such as the habits with food and drinks we ingest regularly. Each bite or sip you take is either fighting disease or contributing to it. So since you have a large amount of power, are you going to use it to make improvements to your lifestyle?
How Breaking up with Soda Enhances your Health:
Overall health can improve without daily soda by eliminating sugary beverages. You can reduce your risk of tooth decay. Tooth enamel is softened by sugary soda, which protects your teeth from chewing, grinding and biting.
By eliminating the excess calories that soda provides, you may be more likely to lose weight (so long as you aren’t swapping these calories out for other sources).
Diet sodas are not without risk as well. Artificial sweeteners are more powerful than sugar or even high fructose corn syrup. These can also make less sweet foods (like fruits and vegetables) less palatable.
Lastly, reducing soda intake should also result in reducing caffeine consumption. By reducing your caffeine intake you will be more likely to get the recommended 7-9 hours of sleep each night.
Soda is comprised of “empty calories “, meaning it is void of nutritional benefits, and is simply a source of calories and sugar. The typical American diet is already overloaded with too many calories, too much sugar and excess fat. So what are some healthier alternatives to soda?
There are so many better drink options, such as:
- Water with slices of berries, cucumber, cinnamon stick, citrus slices, herbs such as mint leaves, basil.
- Caffeine-free herbal teas
- If you need a caffeine fix during the day, try reducing to just one caffeinated beverage per day. Choose green tea, black tea, or black coffee.
- Plain water is always a good option
- Or if you are missing the carbonation, give sparkling water a try.
So how should you go about cutting down your intake of these sugary drinks?
There are many ways to cut your soda consumption. Some can even help you to avoid caffeine withdrawal. It mainly consists of cutting back and then weaning down from there.
Reduce:
If you drink multiple sodas on the daily, you could choose to reduce to half your normal amount daily for a week.
Then half this amount again the following week. Once you are down to one of these per day, you can drink a soda every other day, so you have a soda-free day between your sodas.
Wean:
You can gradually reduce to once per week and then phase out the sweet drinks from there if this is your goal.
Or there’s always the classic: quitting cold turkey. Although, this method is most likely to result in failure of getting off soda due to the cravings. Sugar cravings and caffeine withdrawal can be pretty wicked.
Effects of Quitting Soda Cold Turkey:
Quitting cold turkey may result in withdrawal symptoms. The more caffeine you normally consume, the worse your withdrawal symptoms typically are.
They usually start between 12 to 24 hours after your last soda, and can last 2-9 days.
Symptoms include headaches, mood swings, tiredness, irritability, muscle pain, difficulty concentrating and nausea as well as having cravings for the taste of soda.
After some time, your soda cravings subside, and you should reward yourself, as this is a tough habit to break.
Long-term impact of quitting your daily sodas can include weight loss (if you replace the sodas with water this is more likely). By cutting out the sodas, if replaced with water, your calorie intake with be reduced, and so maintaining or reaching a healthy weight can be easier. You will reduce your risk of heart attack, diabetes and obesity.
Aren’t you so glad you decided to kick your soda habit this year?
So find your favorites from the healthier options available to you, and drink up, buttercup!
Interested in learning more? Check out these posts:
