One of the blessings and curses of living in my little Brooklyn-yoga-meditation-farm-to-table-CSA-kale-quinoa-organic universe is that I get a little out of touch with the rest of the world. I find myself assuming that everyone (well, if not everyone, than at least most people) is on a similar path. Then I’ll have a conversation with someone and be swiftly disabused of this naive notion. There is still so much work to do.
One of the areas in which my naiveté gets the best of me is soda. I have truly been living under the subconscious notion no one really drinks soda anymore. True, there has been a marked decline in our nation’s consumption of soft drinks over the last 5-10 years. As a country, we’re guzzling about 450 cans of soda a year, on average, per person — a number that hasn’t been this low since 1986. But to me, this still sounds crazy, and it’s got to stop.
There is still a pervasive notion out there that just one soda a day is a-ok, or that drinking an occasional soft drink won’t do much harm, or that diet soda is a much healthier option.
But here are the facts: soft drinks are killers, on par with cigarettes (and no one smokes anymore, right??). Drinking soda even occasionally does severe damage to your health, and can throw off an entire week of healthy choices. Drinking soda regularly has you heading to an early grave, or at the very least, on a straight path towards obesity, diabetes, cancer, and heart disease.
Below are the 8 biggest reasons why you’ve gotta kick that soda habit, ASAP. Yes, even diet soda. And I’ll even give you a few pointers on how to make it happen!
1. Soda makes you fat, and in some unexpected places at that! Drinking regular soda increases your risk of obesity by at least 60%, contributes to belly fat, and also leads to fat buildup in weird places, like in your liver and around your skeletal muscles. But did you know that diet soda also contributes to weight gain? Consuming artificial sugars leads to something called metabolic confusion — when your body gets tricked into thinking you’re consuming real sugar and starts to release insulin and blood glucose, which in turn leads to fat storage (especially around the belly!). Consuming artificial sugars also leads to overeating, as well as the tons of other health risks on this list.
2. Soda causes cancer. This super serious risk of soda consumption is due to multiple factors. One is the caramel coloring that makes colas brown, which is highly carcinogenic. Another is the artificial sweetener used in diet sodas — all of which, from aspartame to Splenda to saccharin, have been linked to an increased risk in cancer in both men and women. This is no joke. Diet soda may raise your cancer risk even more than smoking!
3. Soda makes you old. Contrary to all those ads showing older people recapturing their youth by sipping a Coke, drinking soda accelerates aging in your body. All soda, diet and regular, contain phosphates or phosphoric acid, an additive that contributes to that tangy flavor and everlasting shelf-life. Phosphoric acid interferes with your body’s ability to absurd calcium, which leads to brittle bones and osteoporosis, loss of muscle mass, and problems with your kidneys and heart (see below). As if all that weren’t enough, new studies are showing that phosphoric acid also shortens your life span. So all that recapturing your youth is actually having the opposite effect!
4. Soda messes with your fertility. From the carcinogenic chemicals and the processed sugar overload, to the endocrine-disrupting BPA-lined cans and unfiltered water, soda packs a mean punch when it comes to hormonal balance and fertility. Not only can soda impede upon your ability to reproduce, but it also contributes to other hormonal issues, like PMS, reproductive cancers, and, yes, obesity.
5. Soda is loaded with toxic chemicals. We now know about the caramel color, phosphates and the artificial additives, but get this, even the water in sodas can be toxic. Soft drinks are made with unfiltered water, which can be high in toxins like chlorine, fluoride, and heavy metals. Add to that preservatives like sodium benzoate, artificial colors (like that famous Yellow #5), and artificial flavors found in sodas and that “harmless” afternoon pick-me-up or movie theater treat becomes a toxic cocktail of chemicals that you are pouring into your body.
6. Soda increases your sugar cravings. Though most of the research around this phenomenon is centered around diet soda, the artificial sweeteners in which cause an overall increase in hunger, and particularly sugar cravings, regular soda impacts your cravings in a different way. With regular soda, which is sweetened with high fructose corn syrup, you experience a severe blood sugar spike and then an inevitable crash. With that crash comes the biological need to raise your blood sugar to normal levels again, causing your system to crave even more sugar. This vicious cycle means that regular consuming soda (of any kind) is going to make it that much harder to resist those cookies or cupcakes later in the day, which can wreak havoc on all your best intentions.
7. Soda is like a drug. Here is what happens to your body when you drink a soda: Within the first 10 minutes, your system gets hit with 10 tsp of sugar, which is 100% of your recommended daily intake. The only reason you don’t vomit is because phosphoric acid cuts the flavor. Within 20 minutes, your blood sugar spikes, and your liver responds to the resulting insulin burst by turning massive amounts of sugar into fat (which you then store). Within 40 minutes, if you drank a caffeinated soda, you complete absorption of the caffeine — your pupils dilate, your blood pressure rises, and your livers dumps more sugar into your bloodstream. Around 45 minutes, your body increases dopamine production, which stimulates the pleasure centers of your brain – a physical response identical to that of using heroine. After 60 minutes, you start to crash, and need another fix, either in the form of another soda, or something else sugary. Your brain starts to connect soda with happiness and euphoria, and you are officially addicted.
8. Soda isn’t even food. With many junk foods, there is at least one halfway decent ingredient that your body can do something with, but this isn’t true with soda. It literally has zero nutritional value. Absolutely nothing beneficial at all for your body to get some nourishment from. I tend to think of drinking soda as a form of self-abuse, and no way to treat a magnificent, miraculous body that allows you to live and walk and love and experience this world.
9. Soda keeps you from figuring out what you really need. When we crave sugar, and in particular, something as crappy as a soda, we are actually battling a craving for something else, a deeper need. Maybe you are craving a break, a reward, a little excitement, or simply feeling good for a brief moment. But when you feed that real craving with a soda, you aren’t giving yourself the chance to address what’s really missing, and a feedback response emerges. I’m sad = have a soda. I’m stressed = have a soda. I’m bored = have a soda. By perpetuating this pattern you are robbing yourself of the joy that comes from addressing and healing the root cause of your emotions, which impedes upon your personal growth, and honestly, keeps you feeling pretty miserable in your life.
Convinced? I hope so! Kicking that soda habit is a huge step towards getting healthier and happier, losing weight, and learning to prioritize yourself.
With my clients, I find that a one-two punch of a healthier substitution plus self-care does the trick beautifully for getting soda out of the picture. Try it for yourself! Next time you feel like a soda, grab a kombucha, a mineral water with a squeeze of lemon, or a green juice instead. Gradually, you can even replace those substitutions with fresh, pure, filtered water (which you can jazz up with some lemon or other yummy infusions). And take a moment to connect to what you’re really craving. If it’s a break you want, go for a walk around the block. If it’s some fun you need, chat up a friend, or watch a hilarious sloth video on YouTube. Try to inject some regular self-care and pleasure into your day (from non-food sources) and watch those soda cravings disappear!
0 Comments