How To Give Up Soda
For as natural and healthy as I try to be in my day-to-day living, there is one health-busting and eco-trashing habit that has followed me from childhood. I’m totally addicted to Coca-Cola, straight up (no diet or decaffeinated versions here.) It’s bad enough that I’m loading up with sugar and creating unnecessary waste in the form of soda packaging but now there are the additional concerns raised by HFCS (high-fructose corn syrup.) So I’ve decided to nip this habit in the bud and give it up cold turkey (or cold coke can.) This is not a habit that I want my kids to learn from me! If your kids are already addicted, check out this post on getting kids of soda and into to a healthier way of life…
How to get your Kids to give up Soda!
by Moni,
I think we all know it by now – sodas are by far the worst part of our children’s diet. They have been implicated in everything from childhood to . They are a nasty mix of hydrogenated corn syrup, caffeine, carbonated water, phosphoric acid, artificial flavors, artificial sugar and sodium benzoate (yum!), and they are completely void of anything remotely beneficial, nutritionally speaking. So, the task would be to remove this item from our children’s diet permanently – or at least ban it from our house and make soda an “on the road treat” only.
Now, the obvious solution would seem to be replacing soda with other forms of soft drinks, such as vitamin waters, sports drinks or iced tea. Ha! Actually that’s just side-stepping the real issue at hand. In reality, you haven’t advanced at all. All these drinks are still manufactured by the same soda industry – you are still feeding the beast! All these so called sports drinks are still loaded with sugar and many unhealthy ingredients. Your dentist will be forever grateful – you will send his kids to college, and the negative impact on the planet remains the same – all these drinks still come in plastic bottles.
But “no” you say, “Iced tea comes in glass bottles!” – well, apart from the fact that it is very unlikely that you will find an iced tea that does not have high fructose corn syrup in it – the very notion that it would be okay for a little kid or a growing teenager to habitually drink a very caffeinated beverage is simply wrong. Black and Green Tea have been implicated as a growth retardant (great, tell that to your football playing son or your daughter with model aspirations – or vice versa), and caffeine affects their little bodies particularly strong: irritability, mood swings, restlessness, dehydration, adrenal exhaustion, mild addiction are just some of the benefits!
So, what is the solution? Well, let’s look for something that is healthy, cheap and makes a positive difference for the planet. May I introduce: Water and Herbal Tea!
Water: plain filtered tap is just fine – stick it in the fridge. Done! You will have an ice cold, delicious, zero-calorie power beverage. Fill up your kid’s stainless steel to-go canteen and they are all set.
Herbal Tea: comes in a dizzying number of flavors; Raspberry Zinger, Lemon Zinger, Bengal Spice, Mandarin Orange, Peach Passion, Honey Vanilla Chamomile, to name a few. Stick two tea-bags into a glass jar, fill with filtered water, and in about 5 hours (or better yet, overnight) you will have an extremely flavorful, inexpensive, delicious, cold drink – try out all the different flavors and you may be surprised how willingly your kids will embrace this change. Cut out the often funny pictures on the tea box and stick them onto the glass jar – or better yet have your kids decorate the jar themselves for extra P.R. impact. Make sure your tea does not have artificial colors, flavors or sweeteners in it. is a great brand to try – they offer flavor variety packs, which is a good way to get you started.
Try to resist the urge to sweeten the tea – it takes about a week for taste-buds to readjust and that way you can keep the tea calorie free. If however you absolutely must sweeten I would suggest agave nectar or stevia for a low-glycemic natural sweetener and then gradually try to phase them out. Both are available at your health food store.
Also, for the grownups, iced Earl Grey tea or Irish Breakfast tea is delicious and may replace that cup of coffee for a fraction of the cost. Enjoy!
/images/ads/120.jpg)
I had a 20-ounce-a-day Mountain Dew habit (yes–shudder–Mountain Dew!) for years. I tried everything I could think of to quit and just couldn’t do it. What worked for me was completely changing my morning routine and replacing the soda with something else that gave me a bit of the sweetness, caffeine and most importantly RITUAL I craved but wasn’t loaded with HCFS. it helped that we moved around that time, and I wasn’t sure where the nearest convenience store was, so instead of running out for a Dew each morning I brewed a cup of black tea and that became my new morning routine/ritual. I do add a bit of sugar, and I drink caffeinated tea, but to me it’s an acceptable tradeoff compared to the nasty stuff I used to drink. After about 3 weeks of tea, I could no longer touch Dew…it just didn’t sound good. I’d gotten to a point where I didn’t even LIKE it but felt that I needed it and could never get enough. Now, if I have more than one cup of tea I get shaky and feel over-caffeinated. And on occasion I’ll have a Coke when out to eat, and it leaves me feeling really weird and fuzzy-headed. So, I know I must have made some big chemical changes in my body.
Great topic!
PS–this is why I won’t let my kids have any caffeinated soda and only non-caffeinated soda, very occasionally during parties. I tell them they’re too young to have a monkey on their backs!
I gave up sodas during my first pregnancy, with rare indulgences otherwise. I’m one of the lucky ones where simply not buying them at the grocery store allowed me to cut the habit pretty completely.
No doubt it helps that I work at home… less temptation.
Can I use these tips on my husband, too?
Congrats on giving up soda. I’ve cut back on Coke by drinking more filtered water. I’ve tried herbal teas, but the taste is lame compared to the wonderful aroma. I keep making changes in my diet, aiming at a healthy lifestyle. I eat lots of fruits and vegetables and take my vitamins every day. It’s made a big difference already. I even found an inch loss plan that helped me lose 40 pounds.
~Marilyn
I’ve finally given up soda after years of trying. Hooked on Coke as a kid. Thought Diet Coke was better but it’s not. Coke Zero became a very addictive habit – 10-12 a day!
I drink mostly green tea now. I have coffee when I really need the caffeine. Caffeine is really nowhere nears as bad as sugar, HFCS, aspartame and the benzene family. I’d rather my kids drink coffee than soda.
But the best substitute I’ve found when I really want a soda is Twinings Irish Breakfast tea ICED with citric acid. Lemon would be good too but I never liked lemon in cola so adding lemon takes away from the cola-substitute effect. I get citric acid at a wine store and put it in a shaker. One cup boiling water, one bag of Twinings Irish Breakfast tea, steep 1 minute. Fill a 32 oz container with fresh clean ice. Shake some citric acid over the ice and pour on the tea. I don’t miss Diet Coke anymore with this.
Hey, nice tips. I’ll buy a glass of beer to the man from that chat who told me to visit your site
i like lv bags, lol, you may try to get one,
i read somewhere on the internet that long term consumption of Aspartame is not really good for the health. *~;
i used Stevia extract as a sugar substitute because i am diabetic. Stevia is really sweeter than sucrose.~~:
i read somewhere on the internet that long term consumption of Aspartame is not really good for the health. -’,
what about hypothyroidism? this condition the same thing?
have any tips on diet for adrenal fatigue syndrome?
i thought aspartame can cause cancer in laboratory animals “
aspartame is known to cause cancer in laboratory animals so be careful~:*
the thing i like about stevia is that it is tooth friendly`*”
aspartame have some bad side effects too so be careful with it;.:
the great thing about stevia is that it is also tooth friendly like xylitol sweeteners-,:
I liked your article and the information that are provided. There are plenty of suggestions out there that are both good and bad. If you have any more information concerning natural health or associated topics, that would be most appreciated. Keep up the good writing!
aspartame is good but i think Xylitol is even better because it is natural and organic “”
This is getting a bit more subjective, but I much prefer the Zune Marketplace. The interface is colorful, has more flair, and some cool features like ‘Mixview’ that let you quickly see related albums, songs, or other users related to what you’re listening to. Clicking on one of those will center on that item, and another set of “neighbors” will come into view, allowing you to navigate around exploring by similar artists, songs, or users. Speaking of users, the Zune “Social” is also great fun, letting you find others with shared tastes and becoming friends with them. You then can listen to a playlist created based on an amalgamation of what all your friends are listening to, which is also enjoyable. Those concerned with privacy will be relieved to know you can prevent the public from seeing your personal listening habits if you so choose.
If you need them to accomplish something with you on time, add in extra time. I was no longer yelling at them, not even once! They were smiling more to me.
hey, noteworthy blog on lardaceous loss. equivalent helped . Can i use it to my website : http://aothun.vn/group/ ?
Between me and my husband we’ve owned more MP3 players over the years than I can count, including Sansas, iRivers, iPods (classic & touch), the Ibiza Rhapsody, etc. But, the last few years I’ve settled down to one line of players. Why? Because I was happy to discover how well-designed and fun to use the underappreciated (and widely mocked) Zunes are.
I’m really enjoying the design and layout of your site. It’s a very easy on the eyes which makes it much more enjoyable for me to come here and visit more often. Did you hire out a designer to create your theme? Excellent work!
The article is very excellent.Let me learn a lot of knowledge.
A good , it has long sought a paper document com this
Ann Coulter thinks Palin’s power is a negative 2 running 4 President? That’s like saying Superman’s powers are a negative 2 saving Earth.
Incredible, have all of you check out these mardigras shots on Flicker? A handful of this stuff is pretty ridiculous, but seems like a lot of pleasure! You guys previously been or want to visit mardigras?
Kelsey Grammer has gone for the idea, one single additional time. You’d probably presume after three efforts, the guy may possibly know a lot better, however most people never instruct any kind of man. We’ll witness just how long this specific 1 can last, perhaps.
Amazing, did you guys see the Mardi-gras images in Flicker? A handful of that stuff is fairly crazy, however looks like a lot of pleasure! You guys actually been or plan to go to mardigras?
Kelsey Grammer heads for the game, one more time. You’d believe shortly after 3 or more efforts, he could possibly know a lot better, but people never train a guy. We are going to find out precisely how incredibly long this particular 1 lasts, I suppose.
My husband and i cannot imagine how much snow which has fallen after this past evening. My 9 year old taking his 1st trip for snow territory during this wintertime. He’s getting his money’s worth. The exact snowfall throughout our own garden is a greater depth than david is in fact tall, which means that he will love this!
Man, I will be genuinely in danger, I do think I recently picked up a malware via my laptop. Might any one of you boys advise us? We cannot appear to get my best anti-malware program to function. Advise if you please!
Hi, you peeps appear quite smart. Which smartphone should I switch to? Android os appears to be ideal, and additionally I like all of the applications, however I am just not certain. What would you pick?
Wow, the fuel prices really are growing insane. I’ll have to finally obtain a new loan just in order to fill my auto every single week. That is certainly beginning to end up absurd!
Wow, have everyone check out these Mardi Gras photos on flickr? Some of that stuff is fairly crazy, however appears to be a bunch of joy! You previously been or want to visit mardigras?
We can’t comprehend just how much snow may have dropped since last night. Our 8 year old taking his 1st holiday for snow territory during this winter. He’s receiving his entire money’s good worth. The actual snow throughout our own backyard is actually a greater depth than david is tall, which means that he will enjoy the idea!
K. Grammer has gone for the idea, one single additional time. You would think shortly after three attempts, this individual might possibly understand much better, however people won’t teach the fellow. We’ll see just how very long this particular person can last, I suppose.
Amazing, did you guys check out those mardigras photos on Flicker? Some of this stuff is fairly insane, however looks like a lot of pleasure! You guys ever been or intend to go to Mardi-gras?
Wow, these gas prices really are getting mad. I’m going to need to finally obtain some sort of pay day loan just in order to refill this cars each and every week or so. This really is beginning to end up outrageous.
Incredible, did all of you notice the mardigras pictures in flickr? A handful of this stuff is fairly crazy, but appears to be a ton of pleasure! You guys ever in your life been or want to head to Mardi-gras?
Dang, I’m really in danger, I believe I just acquired the latest computer virus on my personal desktop computer. Can any one of you folks help me? I actually can not manage to bring the actual anti-malware app to run. Help out if possible!
Whoa, here fuel selling prices are growing mad. I am going to have to get a personal loan simply to refill my own suv just about every working week. This really is beginning to end up ludicrous!
Charles Sheen has long been this type of idiot. Come on, man, everybody really shocked from the man’s behavior? Nowadays, you would think all of us would certainly come to expect just as much.
Wow, all these petrol costs really are turning out to be ridiculous. I will have to acquire a loan simply to fill up our cars every single working week. This is starting to end up absurd!
Amazing, did all of you see these Mardi-gras shots on flickr.com? Some of this stuff is pretty ridiculous, however looks like a whole lot of good fun! You actually previously been or want to go to mardigras?
I am considering finding a brand-new macbook professional, my outdated mac laptop is beginning to be extremely bad. Do I need to select one of many more recent versions or wait around to view what they are gonna come out with up coming? Thanks!
Unions make up the spine of the nation. There may not be numerous employees remaining, however they battle for workers’ privileges. These types of privileges, then, are converted to additional non-union work. With out unions, we all have been just person workers attempting to fight for our rights.
My spouse and i genuinely appreciate this brand-new Spartacus Gods of the Arena television series, it’s simply a bit quite a bit extra abuse in my view. No way would I let our youngsters watch this either, nevertheless it is engaging in general.