Kicking the Habit/#5 Quit Drinking Soda

During a doctor's visit one day I discussed my daily diet with my physician and he informed me that I drink most of my calories. The average can of soda has 100-150 calories and about 12 teaspoons of sugar but still I love soda. I don't know if it's the burn, the taste, or the fizzy little bubbles but something about soda is very addicting. I have tried to stop drinking soda in the past and I have been unsuccessful. This time I plan to use more tactic. I remember once while sick with a cold I took theraflu; it did the job and knocked the cold right out but the taste was horrible. After drinking theraflu for a while I could not drink lemonade; still to this day at times when I drink lemonade I get a flashback of the taste of theraflu. I don' t like mineral water so my plan is to drink mineral water until soda reminds me of it. I'll keep you posted. Besides weight gain drinking soda has many other adverse effects on your health. For one can of soda you are basically drinking 1/3 of a coffee and if you think you are dodging a bullet with switching to a diet or sugar free soda you are usually looking at even more caffeine. Some of the health risks you are potentially looking at include: insomnia irregular heartbeat jitters high blood pressure elevated blood cholesterol levels vitamin and mineral depletion Caffeine headaches Type 2 Diabetes Ingesting caffeine places severe stress on your heart. It also drives your nervous system into a state of sympathetic alert - the state you attain when a wild animal is chasing you and you are running for your life. Hundreds of thousands of young American schoolchildren are drinking a soda in the morning before class starts every single day and then folks wonder why anxiety is a problem in American public schools! It's the damn drugs - SUGAR and CAFFEINE! Caffeine is one of the world's most psycho-active drugs and sugar is the most addictive drug on the planet. Caffeine depletes you in B-vitamins, especially B1 (thiamin). Vitamin B1 deficiency symptoms include: fatigue, nervousness, general aches and pains, and headaches. If your adrenal glands do not react to the stimulation of caffeine, it could mean that you are headed for a physical breakdown due to adrenal exhaustion. When you get into a state of sympathetic alert, your digestive system turns off because your blood is now sent preferentially to your muscles, lungs, and heart. If you have any food in your digestive tract, it is subject to fermentation, putrfaction, and becoming rancid from sitting too long in an intestinal tract that is shut down. Instead of being nourished by your food, you will become poisoned by the rotting products of incomplete digestion. Caffeine also has diuretic properties. These properties put extra stress on the kidneys and have a dehydrating effect on the body. Caffeine makes the nervous system work like crazy. High fructose corn syrup is another dangerous sugar that many soda pop brands contain. This harmful sugar goes straight into the blood once ingested and adversely affects blood sugar levels almost instantly In addition, research has shown that soda causes soft bones. The current research was done on adult women - but this is hardly a danger you want to introduce to a child who is still growing! With all that said, I still love soda but I will stop drinking it.