I swore off all carbonated beverages in July of 2000 and haven't had any since.

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OMG. Even if you hate coffee (like I do), you can always have TEA to get your morning caffeine. I can't even imagine having soda so early in the morning, let alone every day...

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Yeah there's a "vitamin" diet coke called "Coke Plus" which tastes pretty foul.

I'm still looking for the substitute to soda, which I've been weaning myself off of for the past couple weeks (from a 5-6 liter a day habit.)

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Mineral water mixed with pure cranberry juice (not the sugary stuff) is a great soda substitue.

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Like another commentor, I've mixed soda water and fruit juice for years. I rarely drink commercial soda's anymore because they just aren't as tasty or refreshing. Frankly, it's not even the health issue that's made me switch; it's the taste.

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The yellow capped Coke is kosher Coke made with Sugar instead of HFSC. It actually tastes quite different.

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How is daily Coke anything near approaching moderation? Moderation in this case would be something more akin to one reasonably sized soda every month or so. Jesus, try hot tea, unsweetened iced tea, anything but Coke.

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if you all are this freaked out about basic biological processes associated with Coke, then you all would hide under the bed if you saw the basic processes of what alcohol does to your system.

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...or smoking.

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So if I don't drink soda, or alcohol, or smoke, I should be doing okay!

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Ugh...

This again?

Look, my wife is a doctor and while some of the medical information contained therein is true, much if not most of it is exaggerated, misrepresented, or flat out false. See more discussion here:

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=11037

Why does Slashfood continually insist on propagating BS "scientific" articles?

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To give you some idea of the level of sensationalism at work here (to say nothing of the flat-out falsehoods):

"Your body ups your dopamine production stimulating the pleasure centers of your brain. This is physically the same way heroin works, by the way."

True. This is also physically the same way that running a race, eating an apple or hugging your mother makes you feel good. This claim is the equivalent of saying "Spoons are used to feed you food. They are also used by freebasers to cook up heroin, by the way."

Total garbage. Please don't lend this stuff credibility by repeating it.

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As noted by several of the posters above, that article is so horribly twisted. Living is the only thing that guarantees death. Does that mean no one should live? Enjoy your soda and forget all the crazy rants about how everything is bad for you.

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You're drinking a fancy version of what happens if you stir a couple tablespoonfuls of sugar into a glass of water. That's basically the deal, only it's carbonated (which is just added air), flavored, and sold to you with a great deal of marketing hype about how great it is to drink.

Have a cup of tea and a glass of orange juice with breakfast. At least those are real food.

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"We all know, or at least we should know by now, that soda is bad for your body. It doesn't matter if the drink is regular or diet. Even if we're not sure exactly what is so bad, it's common knowledge that it is."

Shayna, look, I apologize for coming on so strongly here, but please stop writing about anything medical in nature. Or if you insist on doing so, please do it responsibly and not like this. Perhaps you're ordinarily an intelligent and thoughtful writer, but this is the one of the most asinine statements I've read in a long, long time. We don't know what's bad but it's common knowledge that it is?!? Did I miss the part of the scientific method where observed data and controlled testing is trumped by a bunch of people saying "Dude... we just KNOW it."

Coke is caffeinated sugar water... with less sugar than freshly squeezed OJ and less caffeine than strong tea. It's no more "bad" than ice cream, waffles, strawberry jam or carrots. Like almost every other food, the only thing bad about it is having too much of it. Provided that your diet is otherwise healthy and balanced, your morning cup of Coke isn't going to kill you at 50, turn you into a whale or make you grow a third ear, no matter what "common knowledge" hysteria might lead you to believe.

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Dmnkly:

Thank you for your thoughtful comments. I appreciate your arguments to the original article.

I should have been more clear about my opening statement. I was referring to the way people have been hearing for years about how bad soda is for you. I apologize for that.

The original article I was sharing may have been sensationalized, but it does give you something to think about before drinking that daily soda. Even if it is the same thing as adding a lot of sugar to your coffee, maybe I or someone else will think twice.

(P.S. Don't worry. I'm not giving up the small amount of Coke I drink every day. Like another commenter pointed out: just about anything you do could kill you anyway, so just live your life [I'm paraphrasing]. I really enjoyed reading your comments, and I really appreciate your viewpoint and your interest.)

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Shayna...

Again, I apologize for coming on so strong. Bogus "medical" information on the internet is very serious problem, even if this is one of the less consequential examples out there.

For your reference, the article you reference is NOT just sensationalized. As mentioned above, many aspects of it are flat out false.

"10 teaspoons of sugar hit your system. (100% of your recommended daily intake.)"

I suppose the author doesn't specify WHOSE recommendation this is, but it certainly isn't the U.S. government's.

"You don’t immediately vomit from the overwhelming sweetness because phosphoric acid cuts the flavor allowing you to keep it down."

Laughably false. See the thread linked to above. Mix twice this amount of sugar with the same amount of water and have a swig. Most people probably won't find it particularly tasty, but the suggestion that your body can't keep it down without acid is just stupid.

"You’ve also now, literally, pissed away all the water that was in the Coke."

False. On average, people retain at least half of the water in a can of Coke and similar beverages.

There are other complete falsehoods in the article, but the doctorwife is napping at the moment :-)

Point being, this isn't just sensationalized food for thought. It's total BS masquerading as medecine. The author is either horribly misinformed, or just making fact up whenever he deems appropriate. Either way, over a year later, this piece is STILL perniciously working its way into E-mails and blog posts, and it really needs to stop.

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BTW... I should add, I'm not seeking an apology or action or anything silly like that, I just think it's important to nip bogus science in the bud before it DOES become "common knowledge" :-)

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Dmnkly:

I appreciate that you care so much and I for helping out your fellow man. I've made some changes to the post, of which I hope you will approve. I know you're not here for approval. I am also concerned about keeping people informed, rather than spreading false information. Again, I appreciate the counterpoint. Not everyone has a doctor in house to confirm or refute "medical" information.

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I have been a 7-8 can and sometimes bottle of Diet Coke drinker a DAY for nearly 10 years. My health over the last two years has not been good. Extreme headaches and migraines, joint pain, jitterness, fatigue and overall just feeling like crud. People can say that sugars, arificial sweetners, caffeine and other ingredients are not addicting or bad for you, but when your body tells you something, it's time to list. I have shared my whole story on my blog, http:\\www.dietdrinkaddiction.com and how I broke that addiction in 5 days with no withdrawal symptoms at all.
Thanks,
Mike

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