You Probably Shouldn't Try To Quit Soda Cold Turkey Unless You Want To Be Truly Miserable
When it comes to guilty pleasures, soda is right up there with gossiping and crushing entire pints of Ben & Jerry's at a time; you know it's not great for you, but it just feels so. darn. good.
Really, though, if there's anything worth cutting from your diet—it's soda. Easier said than done, I get it! But a few simple techniques might help you (finally) figure out how to stop drinking soda for good.
Reminder: Soda isn't good for you.
You already know that soda is, well, not great for you. Okay, it’s pretty bad for you. At least if you want to live a long, kick-ass life.
A recent study published in JAMA Internal Medicine on more than 450,000 people from across Europe found that people who consumed two servings of soda per day (diet, included) had a higher risk of dying from any cause compared to those who sipped less than one serving a month. (It's also been linked with higher risk of stroke, diabetes, and obesity.)
“The challenge with soda is the quantity of added sugars," says Brooklyn-based dietitian Maya Feller, RD, CDN, author of The Southern Comfort Food Diabetes Cookbook. Often, a serving meets (or exceeds!) the recommendation for your total daily added sugar intake.
Yep: One 12-ounce can of cola packs 35 grams of sugar. That’s nearly nine teaspoons of sugar dumped in there. Not to mention that a can of lemon-lime soda has 38 grams (nearly 10 teaspoons) of sugar. Whoa. You knew it was sweet, but didn’t know it was that sweet.
But isn't diet soda healthier?
Before you even go there, let me tell you: Diet soda isn’t the answer, either. Diet soda may be sugar-free, but all those artificial, calorie-free sweeteners aren't exactly good for you, either.
“Some artificial sweeteners are hundreds of times sweeter than table sugar,” says Feller. While they may have less of an effect on your blood sugar, that sweetness overload still makes you crave more sugar, she says. Not exactly the outcome you’re going for.
Not to mention, research has linked consuming artificial sweeteners with an increased risk of stroke, depression, and belly fat. Again, no bueno.
So what is the best way to stop drinking soda?
Ready to give the syrupy-sweet habit the boot? Just follow these dietitian-backed tips.
Go gradual—not cold turkey. Good news! You don’t have to wake up tomorrow and vow to never have soda again. (That probably wouldn’t work out anyway.) “Making drastic changes is not an effective way to create sustainable behavioral changes,” says dietitian Mascha Davis, RDN, author of the upcoming book Eat Your Vitamins.
Have a plan. It’s one thing to tell yourself you’ll cut back, it’s another to have an exact goal that you can work toward. Let’s say you usually drink two sodas a day. As you get started, keep your two sodas four days a week, but cut down to one the other three days, suggests Davis. “You won’t feel like this thing you enjoyed so much is being taken away,” she says.
Then, reevaluate and adjust. Take a second for a self check-in. How tough was the first step? “Most people say that incrementally decreasing intake is actually an easy switch,” says Davis. Once you feel comfortable with your new soda routine, cut down more: have one soda four days a week and half a soda the other three.
Find balance elsewhere. Unfortunately, if you were consuming large amounts of caffeinated soda, you may experience caffeine withdrawal symptoms as you cut back. To diminish the side effects, stay hydrated, eat a balanced diet, exercise, and prioritize at least seven hours of sleep per night.
Be patient with your taste buds. Though cutting back on soda may leave you with wicked sugar cravings at first, your taste buds will eventually stop seeking out super sweet flavors, and your desire for soda will wane. “As you adjust to a lower amount of sugar and sweetness, it becomes easier and easier to have less soda,” says Davis. When this kicks in (it might take a few weeks), commit to drinking just one soda every other day.
Never say never. Though you want to cut back on soda so that you don't rely on it regularly, you don't have to cut it out completely. “Keep it as an occasional treat,” says Davis.
What's a good drink instead of soda?
Does the thought of swapping soda for plain water literally make you cringe? Yeah, I don't blame you. Keep your taste buds occupied by subbing soda out for one of these flavorful, good-for-you drinks.
Herbal tea. If you're craving soda, go for teas with bolder flavor, like hibiscus or mint, recommends Feller.
Sparkling water. If the fizz and flavor are what you love about soda, meet your new love: flavored sparkling water, says Davis. She recommends LaCroix, Waterloo, and Spindrift, all of which use natural ingredients and offer lots of funky flavors.
Kombucha. Davis also gives kombucha, a fermented, fizzy tea, the green light. Since this buzzy drink does naturally contain some sugar (it’s necessary for the fermentation process), read labels carefully and look for a brand that's lower in sugar, like Health-Ade.
The bottom line: Though you should give soda the boot, do so gradually (and find better-for-you beverages you'll enjoy sipping on instead).
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