Canāt eat food without diet soda in front of you? Canāt live a day without downing several cans of diet soda? If yes, then you must be one of the so-called diet soda addicts.
True enough, diet soda can be very addicting, mainly because of its caffeine content. In addition, the taste and the fizz can get you hooked to the beverage. Many people make drinking diet soda a habit, and even replace water with this drink. Psychological reasons also contribute to the problem. People think that they are not adding any calories, so they gulp down lots of diet soda. However, diet soda addicts must know and understand that this is not a healthy habit. Research says that diet soda is linked to diseases such as bone weakness, diabetes and stroke. It can also lead to excessive weight gain, because you tend to partner soda with unhealthy foods. Knowing these health risks, it is best if you stop the habit as early as you can.
Stopping diet soda addiction can be very difficult because you may experience withdrawal symptoms, such as headaches and migraines. This happens because your body is looking for the amounts of caffeine it used to have. That is why you need to stop the habit in small steps.
First, make sure that you set a time or day when you will not drink any soda, perhaps on weekends or on any two days within the week. When you get used to it, you can add soda-free days until you are not drinking any soda every day.
You must also make sure that you stay away from sodas. You must not stock these beverages in your house, as well as in your office. It is easier to stop your addiction if there is no temptation. Be honest and do not cheat. It will not take you anywhere.
Also know what makes you crave diet sodas more, and try to stay away from it. For example, you tend to drink more sodas when you eat spicy food, so as much as possible, avoid this kind of food, especially when you are still starting from breaking off from your addiction.
Since you cannot avoid the withdrawal symptoms, you can replace your soda with other caffeine alternatives such as coffee or green tea. Green tea is more recommended because of the health benefits it can give you. If you do not want these alternatives, you can drink pain relievers to alleviate the symptoms of headache and migraine.
You can also get you daily fix of fizz on other beverages, such as sparkling water. Another alternative is adding seltzer to you water. You can add fruit juice to give it a little bit of flavor.
Most importantly, make sure that you also drink lots of water. Water is still the best alternative for diet sodas, because it is cheap and readily accessible, and it is calorie-free and caffeine-free.
Lastly, you must change your mindset towards drinking diet sodas. If you believe that diet soda has no bad effects against your health, then it will be more difficult for you to stay away from diet sodas. You must think that diet soda may cause health risks, and that there are healthier alternatives to your favorite drink.
Photo Credit – kennyvaughan @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/kennyvaughan/ @ Creative Commons