My oldest son has been after me for some time to have everyone in our family cut out soda. Compared to a lot families, I would have said we didn't drink that much. I mean, I know families that drink multiple cans of soda per day. And we usually only drink one, maybe two a day. But then I started looking into it. And when I say we only drank one or two, I don't mean cans. No, I'm talking large sodas from fast food restaurants.
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Twenty years ago, about the time I really started to drink soda, a serving was 6.5 ounces. Soda can hold 12 ounces. And now a serving is considered 20 ounces. We always get large drinks. And even with ice in the cup, the McDonald's large cup is still a 32oz cup. Wendy's and Burger King is 40oz! So my little family is consuming way too much sugar, chemicals and high fructose corn syrup.
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Most of you know by now that drinking non-diet soda can lead to diabetes. It can also lead to an increase in cholesterol. So sure, that sugar water can cause you to gain weight. But hey, I drink diet sodas, so I'm ok.
Not so fast. Drinking diet soda can still cause your mid section to expand. Up to 500%. After being tested on mice, researchers at the University of Texas concluded it was due to aspertame. Yep. The ingredient that is supposed to keep you from gaining weight by replacing that naughty sugar. It raised blood glucose levels and that caused weight gain. If your liver encounters too much glucose, it converts the excess to body fat.
Then there's the whole cancer thing. Apparently, making soda brown is purely cosmetic. The coloring contains 2-methylimidazole and 4-methylimidazole. Contaminents known to cause cancer in animals. Just 16 micrograms pose a cancer threat. And most brown sodas, both regular and diet, have 200 micrograms in a 20oz bottle.
So, yeah. We're going to try and go cold turkey. No soda. Only water, unsweetened tea or coffee and milk are our choices.
I'm going to miss the bubbles.
