Giving up soda is a big change for a lot of people.  Even cutting back from let’s say three sodas to one a day, can be life-altering and very beneficial to your health.   For some people the changes are a bit less drastic and mean switching from regular to diet soda.  But is diet, better?  For those who switched to diet soda from regular soda, it was probably because they were trying to be healthier and cut calories.  This calorie cut, however, does not mean healthier.  Nor does it mean that you are in the clear from the health risks that come from drinking soda.  

Some of the dangers of diet soda include:

1. Higher risk for heart attack and stroke

2. Aspartame is linked to high blood pressure, dizziness and fatigue

3. Causes weight gain and obesity 

4. Acid demineralizes bones and teeth

These dangers stem from the highly processed sweeteners it contains, high fructose corn syrup and aspartame.  If these dangers haven’t convinced you, maybe the fact that you haven’t reached your weight loss goals will convince you. Whatever the reason you are decided to cut the diet soda (and we hope that you are), good for you!  It surely means you are on your way to better health.  Cutting diet soda can help you live a better, and healthier life.

Here are some of the ways cutting diet soda will improve your health: 

Less headaches, more focus:

According to some studies, the chemicals that make up diet soda and aspartame can affect nerve signals and alter brain chemicals.   The artificial sweeteners also affect the brain’s reward system, creating an addiction-like craving for the stuff.  Removing it from your diet can improve headaches, reduce anxiety, and help you get a better night’s sleep. 

Improved weight loss:

Cutting diet soda out of your diet is actually more likely to help you lose weight than switching from regular soda to diet.  In a 9 year study, researchers found that diet soda drinkers still continued to gain weight around their waist – so diet soda was not the weight-loss godsend many people view it as.  This coincides with the fact that diet soda is associated with a 65% higher risk of being obese.  Cutting the soda altogether can help improve weight loss and help you reach your fitness goals.

Stronger bones:

For whatever reason, soda has been associated with weaker bones.  This means more hip fractures in older women, and lower bone density just because of soda consumption. By our calculations, drinking little to no soda is one of the easiest ways to improve bone strength, density and reduce risk of fractures.  

Decreased risk of diabetes:

Drinking diet soda means the body releases more of the fat-storing hormone insulin.  The more soda you drink the more difficult it be becomes for the body to regulate blood sugar levels and your risk for diabetes increases.  Those people drinking just one soda a day are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than those who don’t drink soda at all.  Avoiding a chronic health condition is a great reason to stop drinking diet soda.