I cannot seem to give up Soda, where do I even begin?
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The only thing that worked for me is going cold turkey. Avoiding other sugary foods and salty foods helped with the cravings. I also needed to avoid the things that triggered me - being around the sound of my husband opening his cans, for example. I changed my drive home so I don't go past the corner where I used to get a soda every day.
Drinking coffee and eating dark chocolate provides some of the same taste satisfaction, for me, anyway.
I'm a diabetic, so soda is literal poison to me now, but there's no one for whom it's good food. I'm much happier without it.0 -
By the way, the graphic being discussed in this thread greatly oversimplifies the insulin response. An insulin response to sugar is normal, and does NOT "make your liver grab all the sugar and turn it to fat." Your muscles can use Coke to power through a workout just fine, if you happened to drink a Coke before a workout. There's nothing particularly magical about the sugar in Coke except that there's a lot of it and it tastes delicious which makes it easy to consume too much.2
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SweetEve340 wrote: »TeacupsAndToning wrote: »I wanted to give up soda pop completely. I used to drink diet pop - lots of it. Then I saw a documentary on aspartame, and I will never touch that stuff ever again! Sugared soda pop has glucose-fructose - this is terrible for your organs, it's not natural and your body cannot process it.
What I did was use Soda water and fruit juice. Too much fruit juice is also bad for your diet - lots of calories but doesn't make you feel full. You could try Crystal Light with soda water, at least that way you are drinking a "fizzy" drink.
Anyway, to break the habit of drinking pop, I started with lots of juice and a little soda water. Every couple of days I would increase the amount of soda water and decrease the amount of juice. After a few weeks, I was able to drop the juice completely. Then I gradually switched soda water for plain water. It's not easy but with determination, you can do it. Just like any bad habit, it takes time. Some people can stop "cold turkey" (like smoking cigarettes), others need more time.
Better to take all the time you need to finally be free of pop!
Aspartame is fine. That documentary you watched wanted to scare you.
Actually, it's not. It doesn't leave your body. Instead it deposits in your brain as a tumor and stays there. My sister was studying to become a doctor and she did a paper on the study about aspartame. (It was on rats)
So, yeah, aspartame is not okay. Really no artificial sweeteners are okay. Our body reacts to them just like regular sugar.
Aspartame is just a methylester of a common dipeptide of two amino acids aspartate and phenylalanine. Upon injestion the peptide bond between the amino acids is rapidly hydrolyzed by peptidases and the methylester is broken down by hydrolysis to methanol and the constituite amino acids. The mass ratio of methanol to the whole molecule is 1 to 9 so the amount of methanol you get from a can of soda with aspartame in it is about equivalent to the amount you'd get drinking just a little bit of any fruit juice. The amount of aspartate and phenylalanine is tiny relative to any protein source and would be equivalent to the amount you'd get from a bite of chicken.
There is no evidence of any harm, toxicity or carcinogenicity caused by aspartame in humans. The study you reference in rats was the Soffritti study which is the one study touted by those who fearmonger aspartame. It was conducted in Sprague-Dawley rats (an inbred strain of rat that naturally develops tumors (45% of them develop tumors normally) and the amount of aspartame that was given to them was an insane amount equivalent to a human drinking something like 2000 cans of soda a day. They took pictures of the rats covered in tumors (which again happens normally to these rats) and went to the media with it making an emotional plea.
Citations:
Review and meta-analysis of the literature with regards to aspartame safety and toxicity in humans: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17828671
Sofritti study showing cancer in Sprague-Dawley rats dosed with aspartame: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24436139
Sprague-Dawley rat spontaneous tumor formation rate:
http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/canres/33/11/2768.full.pdf
http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/16/3/194
Metabolic breakdown of aspartame:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1865825
The only possible concern for aspartame is for phenylketonurics (PKU) who are hypersensitive to phenylalanine, but to that point look at the conclusion of the linked metabolic study
Conclusion from the study of aspartame metabolism in humans:
"Whereas some high-intensity sweeteners may have been subjected to more extensive animal testing for the purpose of demonstrating safety for use in the food supply, it is doubtful if any additive has received more clinical study than aspartame. As noted in this study, aspartame has been fed under a variety of conditions to normal adults, known PKU heterozygotes, 1-yr-olds, and IDDM and NIDDM subjects. Clinical tests have focused on doses of aspartame compatible with its use in the food supply in addition to its use under abuse situations. Administration of aspartame to humans occurred in the fasting state, as part of a meal, or in repeated loading studies. Pharmacokinetic data developed for plasma phenylalanine concentrations indicate that a bolus dose of 34 mg/kg body wt, the 99th percentile of projected daily intake, repeated at intervals of 2 h does not increase plasma phenylalanine concentrations above those levels experienced after ingesting a protein-containing meal. Aspartate and methanol released from aspartame under the conditions of these clinical studies did not constitute an excessive metabolic load."
Note that 34 mg/kg for me would be 2720 mgs. There is 125mg of aspartame in a can of diet coke (which is the highest, Coke Zero is 58mg for comparison). So keep in mind they were dosing here at the equivalent of drinking 21 cans of coke per day (hence the 99th percentile of daily intake). In that study there was no significant increase of plasma phenylalanine concentraions in the blood.12 -
bellaesprita wrote: »Try kombucha. It's a fermented tea that has a soda-like fizz. It's chalk full of probiotics. A bottle of kombucha will be half the calories and adds a wealth of health benefits.
I second this, if it's available and affordable to you. My favorite kind/flavor (never get sick of it deliciousness) is G.T.'s Trilogy (raspberry, ginger, lemon and 60 calories in a bottle). I find that 'booch' as I affectionately call it fills in when I have cravings for soda or alcohol. It's fizzy, it's tangy, but it's much more nutritious.
That said there is no replacement for a real coke at the end of a looooong bike ride.
Good luck!0 -
SweetEve340 wrote: »TeacupsAndToning wrote: »I wanted to give up soda pop completely. I used to drink diet pop - lots of it. Then I saw a documentary on aspartame, and I will never touch that stuff ever again! Sugared soda pop has glucose-fructose - this is terrible for your organs, it's not natural and your body cannot process it.
What I did was use Soda water and fruit juice. Too much fruit juice is also bad for your diet - lots of calories but doesn't make you feel full. You could try Crystal Light with soda water, at least that way you are drinking a "fizzy" drink.
Anyway, to break the habit of drinking pop, I started with lots of juice and a little soda water. Every couple of days I would increase the amount of soda water and decrease the amount of juice. After a few weeks, I was able to drop the juice completely. Then I gradually switched soda water for plain water. It's not easy but with determination, you can do it. Just like any bad habit, it takes time. Some people can stop "cold turkey" (like smoking cigarettes), others need more time.
Better to take all the time you need to finally be free of pop!
Aspartame is fine. That documentary you watched wanted to scare you.
Actually, it's not. It doesn't leave your body. Instead it deposits in your brain as a tumor and stays there. My sister was studying to become a doctor and she did a paper on the study about aspartame. (It was on rats)
So, yeah, aspartame is not okay. Really no artificial sweeteners are okay. Our body reacts to them just like regular sugar.
Holy *kitten*, no. I absolutely hope your sister failed her course. If not, then may whatever deity/ies you believe in help whomever the pour souls are that she treats.3 -
Its been almost six months now I have soda almost everyday (Pepsi, Fanta, Sprite etc...) sometimes as much as 3 glasses a day.
I feel this is doing some hidden internal damage to me (I am beginning to urinate a whole lot more, cannot seem to digest food properly without soda and worst of all the depression that I experience when I don't have a can for more than a day)
I do try to cleanse my body daily with having unsweetened green tea daily (If that even works) and have about 2 liters of plain water daily but I dont think that can really undo the damage caused by soda.
Bottom line, where do I even start to getting rid of such a habit?
OP. Soda, or any liquid, causes you to urinate more because you are ingesting liquid. I am not sure how you are determining that you can't digest food without soda so can't comment there. Soda contains caffeine. If you are used to caffeine and then you lessen the amount of caffeine you intake it can feel like depression. Green tea also has caffeine so any affect you are getting lessening your "symptoms" from drinking green tea is most likely just that you are replacing what your body is actually withdrawing from which is the caffeine.
Really the only active ingredient in soda is caffeine and your symptoms are pretty explainable as caffeine withdrawl. If you really want to get off caffeine from being addicted to it then wean yourself off of it slowly replacing with water or non-caffeinated beverages and eventually things like lethargy, depression and headaches associated from the withdrawal should subside. If you just substitute soda (that has caffeine) with green tea (which actually has more caffeine) then you aren't really changing much of anything.4 -
SweetEve340 wrote: »TeacupsAndToning wrote: »I wanted to give up soda pop completely. I used to drink diet pop - lots of it. Then I saw a documentary on aspartame, and I will never touch that stuff ever again! Sugared soda pop has glucose-fructose - this is terrible for your organs, it's not natural and your body cannot process it.
What I did was use Soda water and fruit juice. Too much fruit juice is also bad for your diet - lots of calories but doesn't make you feel full. You could try Crystal Light with soda water, at least that way you are drinking a "fizzy" drink.
Anyway, to break the habit of drinking pop, I started with lots of juice and a little soda water. Every couple of days I would increase the amount of soda water and decrease the amount of juice. After a few weeks, I was able to drop the juice completely. Then I gradually switched soda water for plain water. It's not easy but with determination, you can do it. Just like any bad habit, it takes time. Some people can stop "cold turkey" (like smoking cigarettes), others need more time.
Better to take all the time you need to finally be free of pop!
Aspartame is fine. That documentary you watched wanted to scare you.
Actually, it's not. It doesn't leave your body. Instead it deposits in your brain as a tumor and stays there. My sister was studying to become a doctor and she did a paper on the study about aspartame. (It was on rats)
So, yeah, aspartame is not okay. Really no artificial sweeteners are okay. Our body reacts to them just like regular sugar.
Holy *kitten*, no. I absolutely hope your sister failed her course. If not, then may whatever deity/ies you believe in help whomever the pour souls are that she treats.
Well to be fair to her sister her sister didn't post that, she posted that and just claimed it came from her sister to be able to attach some authority to it by association to someone who is at least in training to become involved in medicine. Have no idea if her sister would agree with her or not or what her sister wrote or anything. This is just an appeal to authority where the "authority" is a pre-med who wrote a paper once on something they read.9 -
bellaesprita wrote: »Try kombucha. It's a fermented tea that has a soda-like fizz. It's chalk full of probiotics. A bottle of kombucha will be half the calories and adds a wealth of health benefits.
Problem here with Kombucha is Kombucha is also caffeinated and your symptoms are likely related to your caffeine intake not the particular source of caffeine.
Soda has 21mg of caffeine in a can, Kombucha has more than than...about 36mg in the same amount.4 -
Aaron_K123 wrote: »SweetEve340 wrote: »TeacupsAndToning wrote: »I wanted to give up soda pop completely. I used to drink diet pop - lots of it. Then I saw a documentary on aspartame, and I will never touch that stuff ever again! Sugared soda pop has glucose-fructose - this is terrible for your organs, it's not natural and your body cannot process it.
What I did was use Soda water and fruit juice. Too much fruit juice is also bad for your diet - lots of calories but doesn't make you feel full. You could try Crystal Light with soda water, at least that way you are drinking a "fizzy" drink.
Anyway, to break the habit of drinking pop, I started with lots of juice and a little soda water. Every couple of days I would increase the amount of soda water and decrease the amount of juice. After a few weeks, I was able to drop the juice completely. Then I gradually switched soda water for plain water. It's not easy but with determination, you can do it. Just like any bad habit, it takes time. Some people can stop "cold turkey" (like smoking cigarettes), others need more time.
Better to take all the time you need to finally be free of pop!
Aspartame is fine. That documentary you watched wanted to scare you.
Actually, it's not. It doesn't leave your body. Instead it deposits in your brain as a tumor and stays there. My sister was studying to become a doctor and she did a paper on the study about aspartame. (It was on rats)
So, yeah, aspartame is not okay. Really no artificial sweeteners are okay. Our body reacts to them just like regular sugar.
Aspartame is just a methylester of a common dipeptide of two amino acids aspartate and phenylalanine. Upon injestion the peptide bond between the amino acids is rapidly hydrolyzed by peptidases and the methylester is broken down by hydrolysis to methanol and the constituite amino acids. The mass ratio of methanol to the whole molecule is 1 to 9 so the amount of methanol you get from a can of soda with aspartame in it is about equivalent to the amount you'd get drinking just a little bit of any fruit juice. The amount of aspartate and phenylalanine is tiny relative to any protein source and would be equivalent to the amount you'd get from a bite of chicken.
There is no evidence of any harm, toxicity or carcinogenicity caused by aspartame in humans. The study you reference in rats was the Soffritti study which is the one study touted by those who fearmonger aspartame. It was conducted in Sprague-Dawley rats (an inbred strain of rat that naturally develops tumors (45% of them develop tumors normally) and the amount of aspartame that was given to them was an insane amount equivalent to a human drinking something like 2000 cans of soda a day. They took pictures of the rats covered in tumors (which again happens normally to these rats) and went to the media with it making an emotional plea.
Citations:
Review and meta-analysis of the literature with regards to aspartame safety and toxicity in humans: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17828671
Sofritti study showing cancer in Sprague-Dawley rats dosed with aspartame: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24436139
Sprague-Dawley rat spontaneous tumor formation rate:
http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/canres/33/11/2768.full.pdf
http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/16/3/194
Metabolic breakdown of aspartame:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1865825
The only possible concern for aspartame is for phenylketonurics (PKU) who are hypersensitive to phenylalanine, but to that point look at the conclusion of the linked metabolic study
Conclusion from the study of aspartame metabolism in humans:
"Whereas some high-intensity sweeteners may have been subjected to more extensive animal testing for the purpose of demonstrating safety for use in the food supply, it is doubtful if any additive has received more clinical study than aspartame. As noted in this study, aspartame has been fed under a variety of conditions to normal adults, known PKU heterozygotes, 1-yr-olds, and IDDM and NIDDM subjects. Clinical tests have focused on doses of aspartame compatible with its use in the food supply in addition to its use under abuse situations. Administration of aspartame to humans occurred in the fasting state, as part of a meal, or in repeated loading studies. Pharmacokinetic data developed for plasma phenylalanine concentrations indicate that a bolus dose of 34 mg/kg body wt, the 99th percentile of projected daily intake, repeated at intervals of 2 h does not increase plasma phenylalanine concentrations above those levels experienced after ingesting a protein-containing meal. Aspartate and methanol released from aspartame under the conditions of these clinical studies did not constitute an excessive metabolic load."
Note that 34 mg/kg for me would be 2720 mgs. There is 125mg of aspartame in a can of diet coke (which is the highest, Coke Zero is 58mg for comparison). So keep in mind they were dosing here at the equivalent of drinking 21 cans of coke per day (hence the 99th percentile of daily intake). In that study there was no significant increase of plasma phenylalanine concentraions in the blood.
Love having you around, Aaron!
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Wow, I did not login for a few days and come back to a whole discussion going on.
Thank you folks for your kind support and valuable insight.0 -
Aaron_K123 wrote: »SweetEve340 wrote: »TeacupsAndToning wrote: »I wanted to give up soda pop completely. I used to drink diet pop - lots of it. Then I saw a documentary on aspartame, and I will never touch that stuff ever again! Sugared soda pop has glucose-fructose - this is terrible for your organs, it's not natural and your body cannot process it.
What I did was use Soda water and fruit juice. Too much fruit juice is also bad for your diet - lots of calories but doesn't make you feel full. You could try Crystal Light with soda water, at least that way you are drinking a "fizzy" drink.
Anyway, to break the habit of drinking pop, I started with lots of juice and a little soda water. Every couple of days I would increase the amount of soda water and decrease the amount of juice. After a few weeks, I was able to drop the juice completely. Then I gradually switched soda water for plain water. It's not easy but with determination, you can do it. Just like any bad habit, it takes time. Some people can stop "cold turkey" (like smoking cigarettes), others need more time.
Better to take all the time you need to finally be free of pop!
Aspartame is fine. That documentary you watched wanted to scare you.
Actually, it's not. It doesn't leave your body. Instead it deposits in your brain as a tumor and stays there. My sister was studying to become a doctor and she did a paper on the study about aspartame. (It was on rats)
So, yeah, aspartame is not okay. Really no artificial sweeteners are okay. Our body reacts to them just like regular sugar.
Holy *kitten*, no. I absolutely hope your sister failed her course. If not, then may whatever deity/ies you believe in help whomever the pour souls are that she treats.
Well to be fair to her sister her sister didn't post that, she posted that and just claimed it came from her sister to be able to attach some authority to it by association to someone who is at least in training to become involved in medicine. Have no idea if her sister would agree with her or not or what her sister wrote or anything. This is just an appeal to authority where the "authority" is a pre-med who wrote a paper once on something they read.
Good point. Please allow me to amend an "If true," to my second sentence.0 -
rickiimarieee wrote: »
To the bold: yesrickiimarieee wrote: »Its been almost six months now I have soda almost everyday (Pepsi, Fanta, Sprite etc...) sometimes as much as 3 glasses a day.
I feel this is doing some hidden internal damage to me (I am beginning to urinate a whole lot more, cannot seem to digest food properly without soda and worst of all the depression that I experience when I don't have a can for more than a day)
I do try to cleanse my body daily with having unsweetened green tea daily (If that even works) and have about 2 liters of plain water daily but I dont think that can really undo the damage caused by soda.
Bottom line, where do I even start to getting rid of such a habit?
I was drinking nothing but soda when I started out. It was hard to get off it. Soda can have the same addiction process as heroin. I started off switching to bottled water and I would add mio or packets of koolaid like lemonade and then slowly narrowed it down to just water. To this day I drink nothing but water.
To the bold: No.
OP, I second the suggestion to switch to diet soda.
Dopamine response also occurs when you pet puppies or stub your toe. Do you have any peer-reviewed sources that say soda is equivalent to heroin in terms of addiction pathways and physiological dependence?
Puppies don't contain caffeine a known addictive drug... Yes it's classified as a drug. So yes soda CAN be addictive to some people. And yes you have to wean yourself off if cold turkey is too hard. Also, sugar can be addictive to SOME people as well. So, you may be in the unlucky few. You can replace soda with diet soda which will give you the same drug your addicted to...or you could slowly reduce the amount of soda you drink a day. Since caffeine is a relatively safe drug, your health will improve with diet soda, but you will still be addicted.
Also, just because you don't have an addiction to something, doesn't mean it doesn't exist. People can be addicted to video games... this happens..or to porn....that happens. If the op says he's addicted support him or her and believe them. They may well be addicted.5 -
rickiimarieee wrote: »
To the bold: yesrickiimarieee wrote: »Its been almost six months now I have soda almost everyday (Pepsi, Fanta, Sprite etc...) sometimes as much as 3 glasses a day.
I feel this is doing some hidden internal damage to me (I am beginning to urinate a whole lot more, cannot seem to digest food properly without soda and worst of all the depression that I experience when I don't have a can for more than a day)
I do try to cleanse my body daily with having unsweetened green tea daily (If that even works) and have about 2 liters of plain water daily but I dont think that can really undo the damage caused by soda.
Bottom line, where do I even start to getting rid of such a habit?
I was drinking nothing but soda when I started out. It was hard to get off it. Soda can have the same addiction process as heroin. I started off switching to bottled water and I would add mio or packets of koolaid like lemonade and then slowly narrowed it down to just water. To this day I drink nothing but water.
To the bold: No.
OP, I second the suggestion to switch to diet soda.
Dopamine response also occurs when you pet puppies or stub your toe. Do you have any peer-reviewed sources that say soda is equivalent to heroin in terms of addiction pathways and physiological dependence?
Puppies don't contain caffeine a known addictive drug... Yes it's classified as a drug. So yes soda CAN be addictive to some people. And yes you have to wean yourself off if cold turkey is too hard. Also, sugar can be addictive to SOME people as well. So, you may be in the unlucky few. You can replace soda with diet soda which will give you the same drug your addicted to...or you could slowly reduce the amount of soda you drink a day. Since caffeine is a relatively safe drug, your health will improve with diet soda, but you will still be addicted.
Also, just because you don't have an addiction to something, doesn't mean it doesn't exist. People can be addicted to video games... this happens..or to porn....that happens. If the op says he's addicted support him or her and believe them. They may well be addicted.
A quick google search says that coffee has 4 times the caffeine of coke.1 -
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Cut back little by little. I cut back when I learned about the damage it can do to the enamel on teeth and possibly interfere with calcium absorption in the bones. My family history of osteoporosis is incentive enough to give up soft drinks. Now, I have one maybe once a year and I don't miss them a bit!0
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Try to limit it to meals if you need it with food. Then over time try to lessen the amt in your glass each meal. Try to add a full glass of water before meals so you don't feel as thirsty. I used to think I needed a full glass of soda with meals just because I was used to it. I found out that 1/2 glass was just as satisfying. Also, green tea has caffeine so it may be a reason why you are going more often. Try to drink less caffeinated drinks, there are many caffeine free options. I only drink diet, switched in 99. I wished I hadn't. It's just as addictive if not more than regular. I focus on caffeine free at home. Best advice: Focus on limiting your intake a little at a time.1
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I replace with lime and soda water, sparkling flavoured water and herbal teas. Still if I have a night out and go for a vodka and coke it starts creeping back in.0
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I vote for don't give it up. You clearly love it. Why give it up when it's not necessary to?4
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Flavored seltzer water really helped me, and I often will have hot tea in the afternoon for a caffeine fix. After a couple months you won't miss the sugar.1
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I cut soda cold turkey a couple of years ago, day after thanksgiving actually. What helped is that at the time I had a sinus infection and when I get sick like that I always stay away from fizzy drinks. Well that was the start but after I got better I wad still craving the crap. I had to mentally tell myself that drinking soda is no different than drinking antifreeze...both are sweet and both will kill you...soda more slowly tho. So after so much time I don't crave it anymore. Hell, I've gotten to a point where I don't even wanna drink juice. Too much sugar and I get headaches. It's strictly water and tea (no sugar,no milk) for me...and I couldn't be happier.
Oh almost forgot I lost like 40lbs after giving up soda6
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