Photo by Poolie
That wonderful fizzy sweet drink that everyone loves – soda. You see it all over the place in many forms: Coca Cola, Pepsi, Mountain Dew, 7 UP, Sprite, and many others. A lot of people drink pop on a daily basis – the unfortunate part is that it will slow down the chance of fat loss…or reverse it. The number one reason is because of the sugar content. That’s the main reason why it’s so tasty, because a can of soda can contain up to a dozen teaspoons of sugar. So what does this sugar do? It spikes insulin which stores more fat than you’d like, also it temporary impairs your immune system.
As I mentioned consuming sugar spikes your insulin. This is the major concern. Consuming all that sugar in one period (within 10 minutes usually) it raises blood sugars all at once. Overtime this weakens the pancreas, and eventually stops working effectively which may result in diabetes.
Another factor is the acid content in pop. We’ve all seen it – you know when the kids do the science fair with dissolving a steak or nails in a few days. This is horrible for your teeth. The acidic content in pop will start dissolving your teeth. Starting to reconsider drinking pop now? I know I would be.
Now you might be thinking, “Ok, I will switch to diet pop now”. The problem is that diet pop is just as worse for you. Diet pop contains fake sugars (aspartame and sucralose). Aspartame in diet pops has been causing many negative health conditions (birth defects and brain cancer to name a few). Once it enters your body is turns into a wood alcohol which is a deadly poison. Sucralose (Splenda) has been introduced as a ‘safer’ alternative, but there has been no long term research on the product, and also has been questionable. It’s basically a chlorinated sugar that has had negative side effects in recent studies.
So what can you do to start stop drinking pop?
Lower Your Intake Slowly
Let’s say You are currently drinking 3 pops a day (which is about 450 extra calories a day) it would be ideal to drink two pops a day for the first week then to switch 1 pop a day for the next two weeks, and after the three weeks you should be down to zero pops a day. Also, for each pop that you have make sure to drink a full glass of water right after.
The reason why you don’t just jump into zero pops a day is because you will most likely have headaches caused by the withdrawal of caffeine. Slowly lowering your intake will give your body time to detox the toxins in your body (which cause the headaches)
Get Rid Of Your Cravings
This is why it’s so hard to stop drinking pop once you start. It’s because you always have a craving for the stuff. Here are a few things you need to consume to stop the cravings that will start to flush out the toxins:
- Drink Water – lots of it.
- Eat Whole lean proteins without preservatives – baked chicken, fish, beef
- Eat fresh veggies and fruits, not packaged (which contains extra sodium and added sugar)
- Get your fair share of healthy fats from sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, almonds, and cashews
- Whey Protein
Find A Healthy Alternative
Tea is a great change (No – I’m not talking about the sugar filled Iced Tea). There are so many varieties of tea to try that there has to be one that will suit you. My favourite teas are Yerba Mate and Green Tea. Teas also contain powerful antioxidants that will boost fat loss (I have tested, and consuming tea has lowered my cravings and makes me feel full especially after a meal). Even though it has been debated, coffee may be another alternative. Caffeinated or Decaf coffee is a delicious drink that needs some getting used to, but once you are it’ll be one of your favourite drinks (Be careful to not consume too much caffeinated coffee because consuming too much has negative side effects).
Also mentioned earlier was to drink Whey Protein. Whey Protein does contain calories, but is loaded with nutrients and amino acids which are beneficial to your health unlike soda which is empty calories (sugar – which we know how that affects our health). A glass of whey protein can contain 24 grams of protein which will aid to help preserve and grow muscle tissue, and promotes fat loss. Now are you convinced?
A Final Note…
You have to remember, that no one is going to change you but you yourself. You have to take action to stop consuming the toxic sugars that is killing all of us slowly. Of course I’ll have the occasional soda (Maybe once a week. Sometimes I’ll go months without it), but once you stop drinking soda on a consistent basis you’ll notice that your fat loss will increase, you will get less headaches, and start feeling better with more energy.
