Do Diet Drinks Matter?

Diet Drinks – Do They Matter?

The answer to the question is ‘of course they do – everything matters.

Admittedly, I was ‘The Fat Girl’ who would go into a fast food place and order a double you know what with everything, super giant fries with mayo for dipping.......and a diet drink. I knew the joke – I knew it applied to me...and it still didn’t sink in that something needed to change.

So I wondered  – does the theory of ordering a diet drink, or switching from regular soda to diet make us even a smidge healthier?

The answer is no.

I started with regular soda. I drank these for over 20 years and I drank way too much. I substituted the sugary drinks for the water, tea....even coffee. I have never had a real cup of coffee in my life, yet I could pour the cold carbonation of a soda down my throat every morning. I cracked my first soda before I hit the bathroom – and sometimes, I did both at the same time. There – I said it.

I also admit that I thought I was enjoying every millisecond of it. I would chug my morning meal, then be sure to pack another for the ride to work. I figured it was all that was keeping me going, and I needed the caffeine.

What I didn’t know was the silent effects these chemicals (and that is what they are) were doing to my system. To start, a soda has a Ph of approximately 2.0. Our bodies operate optimally at a Ph between roughly 6.7-7.2. Armed with the information that dis-ease can occur in our bodies when our Ph level falls below 5.7, it should be a no-brainer to stop throwing a Ph of 2.0 into the mix.

The other factoid that I learned was that caffeine, one cup of coffee or a soda will stay in our system for up to 30 hours. Someone who drinks a pot of coffee a day is probably running on sheer caffeine. There is nothing wrong with a cup of java in the morning as long as the desire isn’t to consume every grande latte tall cappuccino espresso we come across. One soda, (based on the theory of the caffiene 30 hour rule) will do the same thing.

So when I would drink over 12 cans of soda in a day – I literally drank myself to dis-ease.

Awareness and the desire to change is all it takes to go that next step toward wellness. I always thought I was weak, without will power and destined to suffer for all of eternity.

I soon discovered I held all of the power to change....and then I did.