The dangers of diet soda range from weight gain and obesity to heart attack and stroke. These dangers stem from the highly processed sweeteners diet soda contains, like high fructose corn syrup and aspartame. Cutting diet soda can help you live a better, and healthier life. Here are some of the benefits of quitting soda:

1. Your taste buds become more sensitive: Artificial sweeteners like the ones found in soda bombard your taste buds with sugary flavor. This makes your taste buds less sensitive to things that are normally sweet, and it takes a lot more to satisfy this sugar craving. Research has shown that diet soda alters sweet receptors in the brain, prolonging sugar cravings rather than satisfying them. This is why diet soda is typically unbearably sweet if you try drinking again after quitting soda.

2. You lose weight: many people start drinking diet soda to lose weight but it actually causes you to increase belly fat. Quitting is probably more likely to help you lose the weight you are looking to. A study published in Diabetes Care found drinking diet soda was associated with an increase in metabolic syndrome and lead to heart disease and diabetes.

3. Bones strengthen: quitting soda can help you improve bone strength and reduce your risk of bone fractures. This is because the acid in soda demineralizes bones and teeth making them much weaker. Some studies have found that soda have lower bone mineral density in their hips, making them more prone to hip fractures.

4. Decreased risk of diabetes: Just because diet sodas don’t contain sugars in the traditional sense, many still contain sugar-like substances, or alcohol sugars like sorbitol. This means that the body is still getting a spike in blood sugar and feeling the effects of the soda regardless of if it is diet or regular. Soda primes the pancreas to release the hormone insulin, and when the pancreas is overworked from creating insulin to control blood-sugar levels, diabetes develops. Statistically, soda drinkers are much more likely to develop type 2 diabetes.

5. Improved Kidney function: Soda is made up of countless processed ingredients that can be taxing on your kidneys. When you stop drinking soda, your kidneys don’t have to work so hard to clear the extra toxins and they can start functioning better. Improved kidney function stabilizes blood pressure, and helps absorb essential minerals into the body.