I eat a very healthy diet but just can't cut out soft drinks... help!!?!
I eat a very healthy diet but just can't cut out soft drinks... help!!?
I would really appreciate your help on this matter as I've always had a healthy diet but fizzy drinks seem to be my weakness. I drink about 7/8 glasses of water a day but still find myself tempted to have 3 or 4 cans of either Cola or Irn-Bru per day and if i've not got it in the house then I have to buy it from the shop. After I've drunk It I feel really guilty and It's annoying that I can't stop taking these sugary drinks any help you can give is much appreciated.
Thank you very much
Answers: I was in the same situation about three years ago and I switched over to iced tea instead. You can buy it in bottles, all set to go. It certainly wasn't what I was accustomed to, but I made myself stick with it because of the reduced calories.
About a month ago I was at a gathering and there was cola there and I tried a sip of it, and it was so sweet I had to get rid of it. I couldn't even swallow it, so I knew I had made major headway with this one. The same thing happened recently with instant coffee when I accidentally put in two sugar packets instead of just one. (I used to use three.) I simply could not drink it because it tasted so badly. Down the sink it went.
Expect there to be an interval while you switch over. When you buy the iced tea, or whatever you substitute for awhile, make sure you look at the number of calories it has to reinforce your resolve to stay with it. The idea is if you can't quit, to seriously reduce the amount of sugar and calories you are taking in every single day.
The other thing I did (which maybe gave me the practice with this) was to quit drinking alcohol over twenty years ago. There too, there was a major improvement in my health and entire life.
It is said it takes about thirty days with a new habit for the new habit to "take," so if you can find something instead of what you are drinking now, and just manage to stay with it for thirty days, you will be well on your way to your desired goal. Source(s):
I wish you success on this. I am sipping coffee this morning with one pack of sugar in it. I have even cut back on the amount of coffee every day because of the caffeine quotient. As you get older, your body will give you signals that tell you it is the right thing to do. It's really simple when you think about it: just slowly keep reducing the amount of sugar you are taking into your body. Best to you, always from, Chris in South Portland, Maine, U.S.A. I am 64 years old, and believe me, when you make positive major health changes like this, you feel them almost within the week. Take good care, now. Make yourself stay with the change-over interval for those thirty days and you'll be all set - C. Try switching do fizzy drinks you don't like and that should curb your desire. Don't buy Coke of Im-Bru. Buy the store brand and make it diet that should help you break the habit. You know that most soft drink manufacturers now do diet versions of their drinks, with highly reduced or no amounts of caffeine, sugar and colorings?
You can try those, and I would also suggest trying to find healthy alternatives that you enjoy. My current favourite is ginger beer, topped up with cranberry juice and half a fresh lime. Yum!
Good luck, we all have our weaknesses! i have the same problem but i jst buy diet now and it makes me not want them O.K. one thing, you have to break the habit of 3-4 cans a day...maybe narrow it down to 2 cans...then one, you get the idea..don't buy the stuff and have it in the house...that could help the problem...think of the money you would save if you did not buy it on a regular basis.
Picture all of that sugar like a glob of sticky mass of sugar...going down your throat everytime you look at a can of that stuff. It may help...try it .. Diet Coke (sometimes known as Diet Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Light or Coke Light) is a sugar-free soft drink produced and distributed by The Coca-Cola Company. It was introduced in the United States on July 9, 1982 as Diet Coca-Cola, and was the first new brand since 1886 to use the Coca-Cola trademark. The product quickly overtook Tab in sales.
Diet Coke was sweetened with aspartame as soon as the sweetener became available in the U.S., 1983; however, to save money, this was originally in a blend with saccharin. After Diet Rite cola advertised its 100 percent use of aspartame, and the manufacturer of NutraSweet (then, G.D. Searle & Company) warned that the NutraSweet trademark would not be made available to a blend of sweeteners, Coca-Cola switched the formula to 100 percent NutraSweet, later switching back and doing without the NutraSweet trademark. Diet Coke from fountain dispensers still contains some saccharin (to extend shelf life).[1]
Coca-Cola light logoIn other countries, where cyclamates were not banned, as they were in the U.S. and the United Kingdom in 1970, Diet Coke or Coca-Cola Light may be sweetened with a blend containing cyclamates, aspartame, and acesulfame potassium.
In 2005, under pressure from retailer Wal-Mart (which was impressed with the popularity of Splenda sweetener), the company released a new formulation called "Diet Coke sweetened with Splenda." Sucralose and acesulfame potassium replace aspartame in this version. Early sales reports for this version were not quite as strong as anticipated; however, Coca-Cola did little advertising for the brand, investing money and advertising in Coca-Cola Zero instead. The introduction of the Splenda sweetened version of Diet Coke saw complaints to bottlers, as store shelves would often go with very little of the normal version of Diet Coke.
Diet Coke does not utilize a modified form of the Coca-Cola recipe but is instead an entirely different formula. The controversial New Coke, introduced in 1985, used a version of the Diet Coke recipe that contained high fructose corn syrup and had a slightly different balance of ingredients. In 2004 Coca-Cola introduced Coca-Cola C2, which it claims tastes much closer to Coca-Cola but contains half the carbohydrates. In 2006, The Coca-Cola Co. introduced Coca-Cola Zero, a sugar-free variation of regular Coca-Cola.
No Calorie Coca-Cola logo from Japan.When Tab was released in 1963, the Coca-Cola Company refused to use the Coca-Cola brandname, fearing that its flagship brand might suffer by being used on another product, the long-term viability of which was uncertain. (Ironically, Tab is still available today, even though vastly outsold by Diet Coke.) Its rival Pepsi had no such qualms, and after the long-term success of its sugar-free brand Diet Pepsi, launched in 1964, became clear, Coca-Cola decided to launch a new sugar-free brand under the Coca-Cola name to compete with Diet Pepsi. With the well-known name, it could be marketed more extensively than the more anonymously dubbed Tab.
Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi have capitalized on the markets of people who require low sugar regimens, such as diabetics and people with other health conditions, athletes, and people who want to lose weight. In the UK, a 330 ml can of Diet Coke contains around 1.3 Calories (5 kilojoules) compared to 142 Calories (595 kJ) for a regular can of Coca-Cola.
Diet Coke is currently celebrating its 25th Anniversary.
A new health scare erupted over soft drinks last night amid evidence they may cause serious cell damage. Research from a British university suggests a common preservative found in drinks such as Fanta and Pepsi Max has the ability to switch off vital parts of DNA.
The problem - more usually associated with ageing and alcohol abuse - can eventually lead to cirrhosis of the liver and degenerative diseases such as Parkinson's.
The findings could have serious consequences for the hundreds of millions of people worldwide who consume fizzy drinks. They will also intensify the controversy about food additives, which have been linked to hyperactivity in children.
Concerns centre on the safety of E211, known as sodium benzoate, a preservative used for decades by the ￡74bn global carbonated drinks industry. Sodium benzoate derives from benzoic acid. It occurs naturally in berries, but is used in large quantities to prevent mould in soft drinks such as Sprite, Oasis and Dr Pepper. It is also added to pickles and sauces.
Sodium benzoate has already been the subject of concern about cancer because when mixed with the additive vitamin C in soft drinks, it causes benzene, a carcinogenic substance. A Food Standards Agency survey of benzene in drinks last year found high levels in four brands which were removed from sale.
Now, an expert in ageing at Sheffield University, who has been working on sodium benzoate since publishing a research paper in 1999, has decided to speak out about another danger. Professor Peter Piper, a professor of molecular biology and biotechnology, tested the impact of sodium benzoate on living yeast cells in his laboratory. What he found alarmed him: the benzoate was damaging an important area of DNA in the "power station" of cells known as the mitochondria.
He told The Independent on Sunday: "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.
"The mitochondria consumes the oxygen to give you energy and if you damage it - as happens in a number if diseased states - then the cell starts to malfunction very seriously. And there is a whole array of diseases that are now being tied to damage to this DNA - Parkinson's and quite a lot of neuro-degenerative diseases, but above all the whole process of ageing."
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) backs the use of sodium benzoate in the UK and it has been approved by the European Union but last night, MPs called for it to investigate urgently.
Norman Baker, the Liberal Democrat chair of Parliament's all-party environment group said: "Many additives are relatively new and their long-term impact cannot be certain. This preservative clearly needs to be investigated further by the FSA."
A review of sodium benzoate by the World Health Organisation in 2000 concluded that it was safe, but it noted that the available science supporting its safety was "limited".
Professor Piper, whose work has been funded by a government research council, said tests conducted by the US Food and Drug Administration were out of date.
"The food industry will say these compounds have been tested and they are complete safe," he said. "By the criteria of modern safety testing, the safety tests were inadequate. Like all things, safety testing moves forward and you can conduct a much more rigorous safety test than you could 50 years ago."
He advised parents to think carefully about buying drinks with preservatives until the quantities in products were proved safe by new tests. "My concern is for children who are drinking large amounts," he said.
Coca-Cola and Britvic's Pepsi Max and Diet Pepsi all contain sodium benzoate. Their makers and the British Soft Drinks Association said they entrusted the safety of additives to the Government. Instead of your soft drink use fruit juice and add some 7-up or Ginger Ale to it to make it fizz.
It will be somewhat more satisfying because of the fruit, still give you the fizz you like and make it easier to wean yourself off the sodas.
I suspect you're more addicted to the caffein than the soda itself.
If that's the case you need to take it easy getting off it. Caffein is tough to give up and you need to do it slowly.
Try cutting back by allowing yourself to drink 1/2 the can each time and then throw the remainder away. Don't try to save it for later.
This way you'll still get your fix but not quite as much.
Don't feel guilty - many people get hooked on these without realizing why. And the manufacturers make sure there's plenty of caffein in them to keep us hooked. They add extra.
Just take your time and you'll get there. look for another drink thats not so sugary that you like better or just as much. I stopped drinking sodas now about 5yrs. my replacement for soda was Gatorade. I also stopped drinking beer back in 2000 try switching to fresh fruit juice, fruit smoothies ... its more healthier and cutting your soda in-take is just a discipline.
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art1...
http://www.recipezaar.com/3760 don't feel guilty. having weaknesses makes us become stronger and helps us to understand what we should improve on within ourselves. i would suggest trying to cut down to at least 2 cans per day if you can. if there's none in the house, just think, now i could buy it but do i really need? it's a want not a need. you only want it because it's there. drinking water is good for you. the way i see it, you're cancelling out all the sugery drinks because of the amount of water you're drinking everyday. good luck. if you're looking for the 'fizziness' try drinking carbonated water instead it has the same effect but much healthier and has no calories.. add some crushed fruits if you want it sweeter I had the same problem and I solved by using fizzy water with sugar free squash. Not only is healthier and easier to wean yourself of them, but it's also good for your pocket, since a 2L bottle of fizzy water is about 17p and the squash last ages.