Is That Soda Killing You?

Did you hear about the woman who died from drinking too much soda?



Is this how you view your day?

That’s right, a coroner in New Zealand ruled that drinking soda contributed to her death. It was revealed at the coroner's inquest that she was drinking two to two and half GALLONS of soda a day. That’s around 21 to 26, 12 oz. cans each day!

That’s even too much water a day to be drinking! I use to drink two cans of soda a day and thought that was a lot. Right now I haven’t had a soda in, I think, nearly four months.

I also can’t help but think about all the parents I’ve seen, or heard of, who let their kids drink all the diet soda they want all day because, well - it’s diet.  And I once had an acquaintance who claimed he drank a case of diet soda A DAY!   I wonder if he is still alive?

But what’s with some people? Soda isn’t cheap, especially compared to free tap water. And there isn’t a single person on the face of the planet who NEEDS to drink soda – EVER!

Don’t get me wrong. I love the taste of soda. Until the last 100 years or so in human history, sugar wasn’t easy to come by. Humans also happen to crave sugar and I'm surely one of them.  So many food manufacturers have taken advantage of our natural craving for sugar by loading up all manner of easy-to-handle, easy-to-consume, and relatively cheap, ‘food’ items with the sweet stuff.

If you are a daily soda drinker, try going a few weeks without having one, and you’ll discover two things. One – you really can live without it. Two – you won’t believe just how good that first taste is after going without it for a long time.

So while many are grabbing another Super Big Gulp or cracking the cap on that two-liter soda bottle, I’ll stick to my unsweetened, freshly brewed green tea to get through the day. Then a nice glass of wine with dinner.

Ken