Is Diet Soda an Innocent Drink or Poison in a Bottle?

I was literally addicted to diet soda. I could drink it morning, noon and night and then throughout the night. It was very much an addiction for me. I could not get enough of it. I loved the fizz. I loved the taste and I wanted it over and over again. It literally became a health scare for me. I knew in the back of my mind I was putting my health at risk, but I didn't care. On top of the soda, I also craved all the sugary sweets too. I was on the road to diabetes and I may even have it and not know it. So what made me stop drinking the soda and ingesting way too many sugary sweets? My digestive system was way out of whack and it was hurting me.

Yep, that's right, flipping channels. I came across this health show on one of these channels and I realized that was me. I was literally staring at me. The discussion was by that famous host, Dr. Oz, about what your digestive system was producing. With all the sugar I was consuming, my digestive system was all out of whack every single day. I wasn't mindful of it and I didn't care until one day I felt a constant uneasy feeling and that something wasn't right. It was like the diet soda no longer gave me that great rush anymore. I no longer felt the joy of eating a cupcake. It gave me the reverse effect, a sick feeling.

I started to Google all the dangers of diet soda for the millionth time in my life. It's not like I didn't know before. I knew in the back of my mind that it was killing me, but if you look around you, you'll see a lot of people in my boat. They just don't care. It's more psychological than anything else. Let's face it, soda is popular and it's here to stay no matter how many mountains of research they produce on its ill effects. Soda is behind numerous diseases if you look at all the research, but that doesn't seem to stop us, does it? If you Google "Diet soda is killing you", you will get back over 2,770,000 results. That should tell us something, right? The funny thing is we still persist on drinking it. The choices we make are insane.

My biggest hurdle was living in denial. I figured that it was harmless. After all, it's just soda right? It's not a drug. It's not alcohol. It's simply soda, but that's where the denial begins. It's not simply soda. It's simply chemicals in a bottle that sucks you in and depletes all your nutrients and destroys your health over time. I had to fess up and face the truth before I destroyed my body any further.

Since I can no longer drink diet soda, I keep water and iced tea in my fridge. I also still enjoy my morning cup of coffee. I have yet to hear that's poison too. The iced tea is good, but it will never be as good as soda. It doesn't have what soda provides; the fizz and the way it cuts down your throat with that cool refreshing feeling, but that's okay. I don't ever want to go back to soda at this point because addiction isn't fun. It's downright painful. I'm learning to like the water, but I've never cared for it. My choice was always soda over water. Water was blah. It had no fizz, pop, whizz. Water in my mind was flat, cold, bland, and blah. Diet soda was better in my eyes and thus was the root of my addiction. I had to get over the attraction that drew me to soda and see it for what it really was.

The best reward by giving up the diet soda was getting my digestive system back on track. I'm clean and healthy now. I don't want to go back to that sick feeling ever again. I think it was a case where my body just caught up with me. I have more energy now. I don't need to rush to the bathroom over and over. I'm not up in the middle of the night like I was before. I'm calmer and this is the way I plan to stay by eliminating the diet soda addiction from now on and my adoration for junk food. It's just not worth it!

I hope by sharing my story, it may help you kick the habit before it's too late. You know the dangers, but it doesn't stop you from drinking soda, does it? I totally understand. I was that person for far too long, but now, I want to be in the boat filled with the people who know better before I allow diet soda to destroy me.