Bye Bye Bubbly

It is time to say goodbye to my good friends diet coke and diet pepsi. I have enjoyed your fizzy goodness everyday for the past 12 years. (holy cow, 12 years!) You have been there during my ups and downs. When I had a rough day or needed to get out of the house I would go and enjoy your diet goodness. I come from a big family of soda drinkers, so this will be hard, but I know you are keeping from drinking the other delicious drinks that my body really does need. You are also a bit of a trickster because you are so artificially sweet you make me crave only super sweet things to compete with you. Here are a few other reasons that I have to give you up.

1. It keeps me from drinking enough water.

2. On the can, it clearly states that a diet soda contains phenylalanine, which is an amino acid.  Now, natural phenylalanine ties into a hormone that you make for your thyroid.  When you introduce this "dietary" form of phenylalanine (D-phenylalanine), it confuses your body and it will compete with what is in your body already (L-phenylalanine).  Thus, your body will not function properly and you could feel like you have developed hypothyroidism.  This means a decrease in thyroid hormone which is responsible for metabolism aka weight loss.  So, the outcome of this fact would lead to weight gain.  (nobody wants that!)

3. Your rotting my teeth!

4.Drinking high amounts of sodium can cause water retention (and make you feel "heavy) and can also lead to a need to drink more fluids to balance out the sodium.

5. With all the chemical additives and artificial sugars in the pop (although there is no conclusive evidence that suggests they are cancer causing or fatal) are definitely not natural substances and, your body will be unsure of how to properly process and excrete the artificial chemicals from your body.

So what do I do with the soda I already have, well according to numerous household cleaning Web sites, soda can clean your toilet, eliminate rust from a car bumper and remove grease from clothing. Not something I want settling in my tummy...

I have been a die hard diet soda fan for a long time so this is going to be hard for me. But I do not want to look down the road and say wow I have had at least one soda everyday for the past 25 years! It cant be good for your body in the long hall! So wish me luck, because this wont be easy! Especially since I can see the sonic sign from my backyard.... oh the temptation!