My name is Denis and I'm a sodaholic.
I gave up meat in my twenties. Although I eventually re-introduced some seafood, I haven't had a hamburger in over 15 years. I go weeks without coffee or alcohol. Refined sugar holds no appeal. I don't smoke or do drugs. I don't have cable television and I've gone months at a time without sex.
Alright, fine, so maybe that last bit of abstinence wasn't exactly my choice, but you get the idea. But for all this austerity, if you put a Diet Coke in front of me, I instantly go crackhead. I've learned to walk away over the years, but I have to say, it's probably the only thing I truly catch myself binging on and need to make a conscious decision to avoid. I honestly believe that there's some kind of addictive agent in soda that "The Man" isn't telling us about. If there's a person on Earth who knows the evils of soda and diet soda, it's me. I know every sip puts me one chemical ounce closer to my grave, which is why I didn't even bat an eye when I found this study out of the University of California, San Francisco showing that soda has killed at least 6,000 Americans in the last decade.
From ABC News:
The new analysis, presented Friday at the American Heart Association's 50th Annual Conference on Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention, offers a picture of just how horrifying the damage done by excess consumption of sugary drinks can be.
What's more, the burden of the diseases translated into $300 million to $550 million increase in health care costs between 2000 and 2010.
I grant you, this study pertains to sugared soda and my issue is with diet, but the gap between the two isn't all that wide. You're replacing high fructose corn syrup with aspertame, an artificial sweetener with checkered past at best. Sure, in 2007, it was given a clean bill of public health "at current levels of consumption," but something tells me they weren't thinking 3 double Big Gulps a day.
So the public service announcement of the day is "Say no to soda." There's just no reason to drink it.
I would love it if my husband stopped drinking diet pop. I've "forgotten" to buy some while I'm out grocery shopping but then I forget that he has a van and he goes and buys it himself. Apparently I need to be craftier...
ReplyDeletehmm, Death in a can ? :)
ReplyDeleteI don't like soda. It's just not tasty enough to hold an appeal to me. Well, there are a couple. Like Jones sodas. Or orange cream. But even then, I can only drink like, an ounce or I start feeling crappy. I wish my boyfriend would stop drinking it. He did for about two months and then decided to start again. Grr.
ReplyDeleteSeriously? I thought you ate (and drank) perfectly. :) I know exactly what you mean about Diet Coke. I literally crave the stuff. My new years resolution this year was to stop drinking it. I've done okay. When I eat certain things though it just calls my name. I totally agree that there is "something else" in it that is addictive. Other than the caffeine of course. My daughter has heard me talk about how it isn't good for me and so when I drink it she gets quite upset.
ReplyDeleteHow did you stop drinking diet coke? I can't seem to break the habit and every time I try I get monumental withdrawal headaches.
ReplyDeleteI used to bang down around 2-4L of regular coke a day and then switched to diet coke. I'm down to 1L of diet coke a day but I am having a huge amount of trouble getting below that level.
Just willpower, Dan. Once you start reading about how nasty the stuff is, it's a big motivator. But like I said, I fall off the wagon sometimes.
ReplyDeleteBTW, caffeine headaches pass in a week or two.
ReplyDelete