You know... I've KNOWN for a long time that diet soda wasn't such a great thing to put into my body, but I've just ignored those little voices in my head (and NO... I'm not losing it... at least I don't think I am... LOL) and enjoyed my Diet Dr. Pepper or Diet Coke from time to time.
Well, in one of my challenge groups, I've kind of partnered up with a new and budding friend to do challenges within the challenge... you know like 10 day NO alcohol challenge... or no sugar challenge, etc. An accountability partner... if you'd have it.
So, twice now, in this particular challenge... I've fallen to the gruesome depths of nutrition hell and partaken in my horrific vice of drinking diet soda. The problem here is that my accountability partner, Mr. I Know It All and I Will Put You Through Hell to Prove IT (soooo.... maybe that was a bit of a mean shot. :P) a.k.a. Mr. Eric Triplett, absolutely DESPISES diet soda.
So as soon as Eric saw the words "Diet Dr. Pepper" in my evening food posting... he went on a rant. And when I say a rant, I mean a RANT! Let me tell ya... you just don't want to make this guy go on a rant, because no one can rant like Eric can. (Except for maybe his wife, Leslie... I think she could come close. LOL)
Now... WHY no more diet soda? Well, instead of putting it in my own words... I'm going to let Eric do all the work. All this info is directly from my accountability partner. Yeah... he TOTALLY blew up our private group with these posts.
On a good note... I have to say I've been convinced once and for all to give up poisoning my body with this stuff. It's not worth it for that few minutes of pleasure.
ERIC <BEGIN RANT>
JUST SAY NO TO DIET SODA!
Before you pop the top, know this: guzzling diet soda comes with its own set of side effects that may harm your health - from kickstarting kidney problems to adding inches to your waistline.
Reason 1:
NO TO DIET SODA!
Reproductive Issues
Sometimes, the vessel for your beverage is just as harmful. Diet or not, soft drink cans are coated with the endocrine disruptor bisphenol A (BPA), which has been linked to everything from heart disease to obesity to reproductive problems.
There is a lot of risk-taking for one can of pop.
Reason 2:
NO TO DIET SODA!
Rotting Teeth
 |
| Picture is worth a thousand words. |
With a pH of 3.2, diet soda is very acidic. (As a point of reference, the pH of battery acid is 1. Water is 7). The acid is what readily dissolves the enamel, and just because a soda is diet doesn't make it acid-light. Adults who drink three or more sodas a day have wore dental health, says a University of Michigan analysis of dental checkup data. Soda drinkers had a far greater decay, more missing teeth and more fillings.
Reason 3:
NO TO DIET SODA!
Cell Damage
Diet sodas contain something many regular sodas don't: mold inhibitors. They go by the names sodium benzoate or potassium benzoate, and they're in nearly all diet sodas. But many regular sodas, such as Coke and Pepsi, don't contain this preservative.
That's bad news for diet drinkers. "These chemicals have the ability to cause severe damage to DNA in the mitochondria to the point that they totally inactivate it -- they knock it out altogether," Peter Piper, a professor of molecular biology and biotechnology at the University of Sheffield in the U.K., told a British newspaper in 1999. The preservative has also been linked to hives, asthma, and other allergic conditions according to the Center for Science in the Public interest.
Since then, some companies have phased out sodium benzoate. Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi have replaced it with another preservative, potassium benzoate. Both sodium and potassium benzoate were classified by the Food Commission in the UK as mild irritants to the skin, eyes and mucous membranes.
Reason 4:
NO TO DIET SODA!
A Terrible Hangover
Your first bad decision was ordering that Vodka-Diet-- and you may make the next one sooner than you thought. Cocktails made with diet soda get you drunker, faster, according to a study out of the Royal Adelaide Hospital in Australia. That's because sugar-free mixers allow liquor to enter your bloodstream much quicker than those with sugar, leaving you with a bigger buzz.
Reason 5:
NO TO DIET SODA!
Obesity
You read that right. Diet soda doesn't help you lose weight after all. A University of Texas Health Science Center study found that the more diet sodas a person drank, the greater their risk of becoming overweight. Downing just two or more cans a day increased waistlines by 500%.
Why? Artificial sweeteners can disrupt the body's natural ability to regulate calorie intake based on the sweetness of foods, suggested an animal study from Purdue University. That means people who consume diet foods might be more likely to overeat, because your body is being tricked into thinking it's eating sugar, and you crave more.
Reason 6:
NO TO DIET SODA!
Messed-Up Metabolism
According to a 2008 University of Minnesota study of almost 10,000 adults, even just one diet soda a day is linked to a 34% higher risk of metabolic syndrome, the group of symptoms including belly fat and high cholesterol that puts you at risk for heart disease. Whether that link is attributed to an ingredient in diet soda or the drinkers' eating habits is unclear.
But is that can really worth it?
Reason 7:
NO TO DIET SODA!
Kidney Problems
Here's something you didn't know about your diet soda: It might be bad for your kidneys. In an 11-year-long Harvard Medical School study of more than 3,000 women, researchers found that diet cola is associated with a two-fold increased risk for kidney decline. Kidney function started declining when women drank more than two sodas a day. Even more interesting: Since kidney decline was not associated with sugar-sweetened sodas, researchers suspect that the diet sweeteners are responsible.
Reason 8:
NO TO DIET SODA!
Diet Coca-Cola has BENZENE!
ben-zene
noun
1.
a colorless volatile liquid hydrocarbon present in coal tar and petroleum, used in chemical synthesis. Its use as a solvent has been reduced because of its carcinogenic properties.
ERIC </END RANT>
Well, thank you very much, Eric, for your research. Thank you for opening my eyes. I KNEW diet soda wasn't good for me. I kind of knew why... but I didn't realize HOW bad it is.
No... I won't be drinking it again. And I SURE won't risk having you go on another diet soda rant! I was very worried about your blood pressure!!!! LOL
In the end, the question we have to ask ourselves is... is it worth it? Is the risk worth it, in order to enjoy a few minutes of satisfaction? I honestly have to say no. There are plenty of other poisons that get into our body just via the habits and interactions that we have on a daily basis. We do not need to purposely put our bodies at even more risk... especially with eyes wide open.
As far as to drink or not to drink diet soda... that is a choice you have to make for yourself. But after reading all this info, I knew I just had to share it.
So, thanks, Eric! When you're on a rant, you're on a rant... but at least this time, perhaps some good came from it. :P
Oh you are hilarious! Thanks for sharing. I will pass this along. I love the photo too!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jenn! Eric was VERY convincing :)
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