I cannot seem to give up Soda, where do I even begin?

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  • TR0berts
    TR0berts Posts: 7,739 Member
    Aaron_K123 wrote: »
    TR0berts wrote: »
    SweetEve340 wrote: »
    TeacupsAndToning wrote: »
    patti3105 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.
  • stevencloser
    stevencloser Posts: 8,911 Member
    drgnfyre wrote: »
    3bambi3 wrote: »
    rickiimarieee wrote: »
    3bambi3 wrote: »
    rickiimarieee wrote: »
    khan2187 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.
    To the bold: yes

    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.
  • corinasue1143
    corinasue1143 Posts: 7,460 Member
    khan2187 wrote: »



    Bottom line, where do I even start to getting rid of such a habit?

    Decide.

  • fittocycle
    fittocycle Posts: 827 Member
    edited October 2017
    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!
  • GettinFitInMN
    GettinFitInMN Posts: 24 Member
    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.
  • lilac_bunny
    lilac_bunny Posts: 137 Member
    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.
  • ladyhusker39
    ladyhusker39 Posts: 1,406 Member
    I vote for don't give it up. You clearly love it. Why give it up when it's not necessary to?
  • millerdan1
    millerdan1 Posts: 16 Member
    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.
  • JillianRumrill
    JillianRumrill Posts: 335 Member
    millerdan1 wrote: »
    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.

    Bigelow vanilla caramel black tea is my jam! I drink it in the am after getting to work.
  • khan2187
    khan2187 Posts: 16 Member
    It has been 2 weeks now I have successfully managed not to touch Soda!

    Although there is a catch to it, I substitute it with this drink called "Vimto Fruit Cordial" and the flavor is so strong in vimto I cannot manage to drink more than 1/4 of a glass and it pretty much satisfies my soda craving and the fact that it aint soda at all :-)
  • jennordhavn
    jennordhavn Posts: 88 Member
    JillianRumrill wrote: »
    millerdan1 wrote: »
    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.

    Bigelow vanilla caramel black tea is my jam! I drink it in the am after getting to work.

    That sounds delicious, I'll have to try it!
  • Momepro
    Momepro Posts: 1,509 Member
    I personally love those carbonated non mineral, fruit flavored waters. There are several brands of zero calorie onesthat are great. They are loke the old Clearly Canadians, but way cheaper, and they taste like lighter fruit sodas.
  • Luvmetheweighiam
    Luvmetheweighiam Posts: 17 Member
    I battle with this as well. It's a process.. now I'm to the point where I have 100 calorie can sodas at one meal a day. After it's gone it's gone. My next move is going to be every other day then eventually plan to cut them off all together. One day at a time
  • Bughunter99
    Bughunter99 Posts: 13 Member
    khan2187 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 quit cold turkey. It's uncomfortable but the discomfort is short lived.
  • singingflutelady
    singingflutelady Posts: 8,736 Member
    Bughunter99 wrote: »
    Random1634 wrote: »
    There is a lot of drama in this thread it seems over soda. Anything can be addicting. Soda is physically and mentally addicting, because of the sugar and caffeine. The way I got myself away from it was by eliminating caffeine. It was miserable at first. For 3 days I had a raging, skull crushing headache, but I knew I was going to feel like garbage. I just fought through it thinking that once it passes I won't have to deal with the dependence anymore. Then I began to work on my sugar intake. That can be a bit of a bigger battle, because it is in almost everything, but once you kick it a lot of other weird food cravings die off also. Sounds simple when written down but I know how much of a struggle it is, best of luck to you!

    I knew it was terrible for me when I experienced feeling like absolute garbage when I finally quit it. I will never touch that chemical stew again.

    You mean caffeine withdrawal?
  • WhalenJR
    WhalenJR Posts: 21 Member
    I was drinking up to 5 monster energy drinks a day for years. After a week in the hospital in January I never picked up another one again and shortly after gave up all soda.
  • zcb94
    zcb94 Posts: 3,678 Member
    DonM46 wrote: »
    Low calorie fruit juices work for me.
    Ocean Spray Diet Cran-Grape has only 5 cal/serving.
    Welch's Lite Grape Juice has 45 cal/serving.
    Minute Maid has light lemonade, fruit punch, and mango-passion fruit in 5 to 15 cal/serving.
    Trop 50 and Minute Maid light orange juice has 50 cal/serving.

    If you must go with soft drinks instead of juice, there are several flavors of the "-TEN" genre. Root Beer, Orange, Ginger Ale, RC Cola, 7 Up, and Dr Pepper. [Dr Pepper no longer supplies the 12 oz version, but I think the 2 liter bottles are still available.] To me, these are closer to the 'real thing' with little or no diet taste.

    I second the “soda TEN” suggestion.
  • zcb94
    zcb94 Posts: 3,678 Member
    rheddmobile wrote: »
    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.
    What about diet? My doctor okays diet/TEN brand sodas in moderation.
  • zcb94
    zcb94 Posts: 3,678 Member
    JillianRumrill wrote: »
    millerdan1 wrote: »
    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.

    Bigelow vanilla caramel black tea is my jam! I drink it in the am after getting to work.
    I love that stuff too!
  • shellyb17
    shellyb17 Posts: 144 Member
    I went from having several cans of regular Coke per day as a teenager, then switched to Diet Coke/Coke Zero, then to Diet Sprite and then eventually weened myself off that to water and unsweetened iced tea. Definitely was not an overnight process. I don't miss it at all, in fact I think most soda tastes disgusting now.
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