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Three years ago, I made the decision to cut soda out of my life
completely. It wasn't for health or weight loss reasons; I simply got
tired of the way it made my teeth feel. Every time I took a sip from a
can, I felt my teeth become covered in sugar; running my tongue over my
canines felt like licking a grimy, rocky road. Ready to regain my dental
health, I finally chose to break up with soda.
From time to time, the satisfying crackle of a fizzy soft drink being
poured over ice tempts me to dive back in. But as good as it tastes, I
don't plan on returning to soda ever again - and these are the reasons
why it's worth every moment I spend avoiding it.
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I lost weight.
First, I did lose a bit of weight once I cut out soft drinks. Soda was a
major source of sugar and excess calories in my diet. After ditching it,
not only did I eliminate that source, but I also became more
health-conscious and aware of how everything I consumed affected my
body. As I cut out soda and other sugary drinks, my water intake also
increased. As a result, I dropped a couple of pounds quickly and easily. |
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I saw a major improvement in my skin.
More prominent than the weight loss I experienced was the effect on my
skin. I once struggled with breakouts that would leave my face covered
in acne and, subsequently, acne scars. In just a few weeks after I put
down my last soda can, though, I noticed my skin clear up immensely and
my breakouts come to a full stop.
It bettered my complexion so much that now when I hear people seeking
skin-care advice, the first tip I always give is to cut out sugary soft
drinks entirely. |
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My teeth looked incredible.
Returning to the reason I ended my relationship with soda in the first
place, one of the changes I was happiest to see was an improvement in my
dental hygiene. Studies have shown that even diet soda can have
irreversible damage on teeth, and I was certainly feeling those effects
before I cut it out.
Once I stopped consuming soft drinks, not only was I free from the grimy
way my teeth once felt after drinking soda, but I also noticed that my
teeth appeared much whiter and cleaner than before. |
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I craved it less and less.
The tricky thing about soda is that it's created to be addicting. The
additives it contains, like sugar and caffeine, hook consumers. In the
case of diet sodas, one small study of a dozen women at the University
of California San Diego found that while artificial sweeteners taste
sweet, they don't satisfy our brains in the same way as sugar leading us
to consume more sugar.
However, the cycle is escapable. After just a few weeks of resisting
temptation, I realized that I no longer craved soda. It had been absent
from my diet for long enough that it no longer had the same appeal, and
it became easier to ignore it in restaurants and at parties. |
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I found delicious alternatives to soda.
Cutting out soda isn't as difficult as you might imagine, especially if
you can find healthy substitutes. For example, instead of soft drinks,
I'm a big fan of fruit-infused sparkling water. Lime-flavored water, in
particular, tastes similar enough to lemon-lime soda to make a great
replacement, giving you the benefits of staying hydrated without all the
sugar.
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