When we want to lose weight, the idea of trying to quit drinking diet soda seems to be somewhat counter intuitive. After all, if we want to drop the pounds but still drink something with flavor, a zero-cal fizzy drink sounds like a great option, right? What could be the harm in that choice?
You hear all the time that it’s essential to weight loss and yet the idea of how to quit drinking diet soda doesn’t seem easy. If you have been a diet soda lover for years it may seem to you that it’s a habit that is impossible to break. Sure you may love this fix and it may even replace coffee for you, but it could be hurting you more than you realize.
Not only can this “diet” beverage actually be working against you in your ability to lose weight, but it may also be what is keeping you from achieving better health. So, while this one beverage may seem harmless, this is something that you really need to work at cutting out of your diet and your life.
As you think about how to quit drinking diet soda it may start with a bit of education. Recognize that this beverage is made up of any of a lot of artificial sweeteners. In many cases, these synthetic chemical-based sweeteners may be worse for you than sugar itself.
While it may not have the calories, it does have a lot of additives and preservatives that could still hurt you in the end. It has been found that some of the sweeteners found within diet soda may cause cancer later in life and may hurt your health and even your immune system. This has not yet been conclusively proven. These types of long-term studies are difficult and expensive to conduct. However, early stage research has started to cast doubt on the use of these artificial sweeteners over time.
Unless you have diabetes and must rely on them because you don’t have any other reasonable alternatives, it’s typically considered to be far better for you to quit drinking diet soda. If potential long-term risks aren’t enough to deter you, then consider what this habit may be doing to your efforts to lose weight or keep it off once it’s gone.
Diet soda ingredients may cause you to feel hungrier, thus hurting your weight loss efforts. So, use this education to help you to quit drinking diet soda in the name of your dieting goals.
To be fair to diet pops, drinking sodas sweetened with regular sugar or any of the sweeteners marketed as “healthier” such as cane sugar (which is essentially just sugar), stevia or others, is still not good for you. Just as you should quit drinking diet soda, it’s a good idea to cut back on all pop. The ingredients simply aren’t good for you. This is particularly true of certain specific sodas, such as brown-colored ones like root beer and colas. They’re colored by “caramel color” which has been linked with cancer risk and is now regulated so that companies can’t add more than a certain amount to their products. The problem is that those companies can’t stop you from drinking copious amounts of those products, negating the benefits of those restrictions.
There are some great substitutes that are perfectly fine to enjoy. Take for example a seltzer or sparkling water beverage. So long as they are free of the same additives and preservatives, these give you the carbonation that diet soda has but without any of the unwanted calories and additives. You may also wish to look into green tea or a bit of coffee if it is the caffeine that you are after.
These can give you that lift without any of the harmful ingredients that hold you back. That’s what it’s all about as you think of how to quit drinking diet soda. The most effective way to quit drinking your favorite diet drinks is to start drinking more water. Every time you want a soda, drink a full glass of water instead. When you aren’t thirsty, it’s much easier to resist the urge to grab a diet drink.
If you have been a fan of diet soda for years, then it may not happen overnight to get rid of it. You may want to work at how to quit drinking diet soda a little bit at a time so that you are sure to stick with it. Try to limit it and only allow yourself to drink one can a day or something along those lines. Once your body gets used to drinking less then you will find that you don’t need it or miss it at all. Though you may think that your quest to quit drinking diet soda seems impossible, if you consider how the benefits outweigh the potential difficulty then it’s all worth it in the end.