Many of our favorite junk foods increase the risk of weight gain, cardiac arrest, stroke, and other diseases. Diet sodas appear to be an easy way around unhealthy calories while still allowing you a familiar indulgence, but don’t let yourself be fooled. Diet sodas contain a chemical cocktail that drives your metabolism crazy and increases your risk of disease.
If you’re regularly guzzling down diet sodas, here are seven reasons why you seriously need to quit today. I’ll also give you a few practical solutions to help ditch the habit.
Cravings
All diet sodas contain artificial sweeteners. These sweeteners trick your brain (momentarily) into thinking it is about to receive sugary calories. But when the calories are not received, your brain sends signals that you need food, resulting in food cravings.
Weight Gain
Food cravings make it difficult to balance the pleasure centers of the brain, thus increasing your vulnerability to the next high-calorie sweet treat that crosses your path. That’s a tough psychological battle to win.
Chronic Illness
Aspartame, an artificial sweetener found in over 6,000 food products including diet sodas, has been found to trigger or worsen chronic illnesses including brain cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and multiple sclerosis. Aspartame should be considered an enemy of the State!
Corrosion
If a diet soda (search youtube.com for this one) can be used to clean a corroded battery and remove rust, imagine what it’s doing to the lining of your stomach, esophagus, and teeth.
Kidney Decline
A Harvard Medical School study found that women who drank more than two diet sodas per day had a 30% decline in kidney function compared to women who do not drink diet soda.
Dehydration
Diet soda is in no way a replacement for water. Caffeine and sodium found in most diet sodas make you thirsty and cause frequent urination. The average person would rather pay a little extra at the vending machine for another diet soda instead of drinking a free glass of water. This causes a cycle of headaches, fatigue, dry mouth, constipation, and hot flashes — each one a symptom of dehydration
Poor Metabolism
A Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) study linked diet soda to a 36 percent higher risk of metabolic syndromes that cause your metabolism to function at unfavorable speeds. If you want a metabolism that can keep pace with the Indy 500, avoid diet sodas.
So how do you ditch the diet soda habit? Replace it with water. The human body is more than 60 percent water, yet most of us still don’t drink enough of it. Here are a few practical solutions to drinking more water:
Add a Lemon: Yes, water is sometimes tasteless and boring. Try adding a lemon, mint or an orange slice to liven it up a bit, or experiment with a fruit-infused water.
Spice it Up: Not only are cayenne (red) peppers a super healthy seasoning, they will also have you reaching for a cold glass of water during dinner.
Keep it on You: Buy a clear 74- ounce container and keep it in plain sight at all times. Challenge yourself to drink the entire container over the course of the day.
Remember the Savings: Restaurant water is free — why pass up on the savings? Plus most restaurants use a filtration system on their tap, so it tastes even better.
Diet soda can lead to several serious health problems. Replace it with water for a healthy alternative. What’s your best tip for quitting?
Further Reading:
Sources:
- Can’t seem to shed weight – no matter how hard you try – or after dieting, you always gain it all back? Here are 5 simple steps to fix this – ReinventingAging
- Associations of Sugar and Artificially Sweetened Soda with Albuminuria and Kidney Function Decline in Women – PMC
- Diet Drink – Wikipedia
- Diet Soda Intake and Risk of Incident Metabolic Syndrome and Type 2 Diabetes in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) – PMC
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