Admittingly we have been here before. I spend a lot of time preaching organic, locally grown bla bla bla and then always follow it with “no one is perfect I drink diet coke everyday, I know its bad, I own it”
I have given it up in the past… but here’s the thing, I didn’t feel better, my skin didn’t look clearer, I def didn’t sleep better or have any other physical effects from kicking the stuff. In fact I was grouchy because I wanted diet coke!
The last time I gave it up was July 2011 after 8 months I hopped back on.
I was watching Oprah interview Mayou Angelou a few weeks ago and she has that famous saying “when you know better you do better” right? makes sense I use this all the time with my trainers. But when she started breaking down the big R word…personal responsibility. And how freedom of choice is not a self centered thing, but that we still have a responsibility to weigh how that personal choice effects others… OUCH! Ok I totally get it. I would NEVER let my kids have soda, right there its got to go, I can not set a bad example for them and how can I expect my clients to make huge dietary. fitness and lifestyle changes if I myself can’t?
So here we go! Last night 5pm was the last Diet coke.
When you know better do better!
Here are the top 4 reasons I am giving it up. this was published in Aug 2012 in Prevention Magazine. see more at www.prevention.com
Here are all the reasons one should not be drinking soda:
1) It can cause kidney problems:In an 11-year-long Harvard Medical School study of more than 3,000 women, researchers found that diet cola is associated with a two-fold increased risk for kidney decline. Kidney function started declining when women drank more than two sodas a day. Even more interesting: Since kidney decline was not associated with sugar-sweetened sodas, researchers suspect that the diet sweeteners are responsible.
2) It can actually make you gain weight. “Downing just two or more cans a day increased waistlines by 500%. Why? Artificial sweeteners can disrupt the body’s natural ability to regulate calorie intake based on the sweetness of foods, suggested an animal study from Purdue University” – prevention.
3) Cell Damage: Diet sodas contain something many regular sodas don’t: mold inhibitors. They go by the names sodium benzoate or potassium benzoate, and they’re in nearly all diet sodas. “These chemicals have the ability to cause severe damage to DNA in the mitochondria to the point that they totally inactivate it – they knock it out altogether,” Peter Piper, a professor of molecular biology and biotechnology at the University of Sheffield in the U.K., told a British newspaper in 1999. The preservative has also been linked to hives, asthma, and other allergic conditions, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest.- prevention
4) Rotting Teeth: With a pH of 3.2, diet soda is very acidic. (As a point of reference, the pH of battery acid is 1. Water is 7.) The acid is what readily dissolves enamel, and just because a soda is diet doesn’t make it acid-light. Adults who drink three or more sodas a day have worse dental health, says a University of Michigan analysis of dental checkup data. Soda drinkers had far greater decay, more missing teeth, and more fillings.- prevention
