Stop drinking soft drink with these helpful tips!
Soft drinks are often one of those vices you find hard to kick when starting on your health and weight loss journey. If you want to stop drinking soft drinks there are a lot of good reasons to do so and some ways you can do it successfully.
Itโs not only sugars that are a problem with soft drinks but the over-consumption of them can lead to a number of other health problems.
How to stop drinking soft drinks
Brainwash yourself
Most of us are fairly trusting consumers.ย We believe that if something isย on our supermarket shelves, then it canโt be bad for us. Donโt always be so trusting โ know exactlyย what you are consuming.
So, the very first step is to read the ingredients in your soft drinks and learnย one by one what they are and what they do to us…
Understand the ingredients
Getting to know the ingredients in your favourite soft drink will help you feel less like picking one up the next time you want a drink.
In one 375ml soft drink, there is approximately 39g of sugar. That is double your daily recommendation for sugar intake in ONE DRINK!
Itโs not only sugars that are a problem with soft drinks but the over-consumption of them can lead to a number of other health problems.
Check out how many calories are in a single can of coke.
Open your eyes!
Take a look around when youย go shopping or out to lunch.
Notice the difference between the fit,ย glamorous youths on the soft drink ads andย compare them to the people in real life whoย are drinking them.
Notice how automatically they consume them and ask yourself how healthyย do they look?
Can you see how as a society we have been made to think that drinking soft drinks is normal? How many cafes and restaurants have you been to where they DO NOT have soft drinks available?
It is seriously ridiculous! We should not accept drinks that provide at least our daily recommendation for sugar in one serve as commonplace.
So open your eyes and ignore the massive marketing that is trying to convince us itโs ok to consume soft drinks all the time so that you can rewire your brain to stop drinking soda.
Once you are psychologically ready to reduceย your soft drink consumptions, there is noย stopping you!!
Benefits of not drinking soft drinks
There are many benefits of not drinking soft drinks and it can do amazing things for your health including:
- Reduce swelling and inflammation
- Help gout and arthritis symptoms
- Give you clearer skin
- Allow your body to absorb more nutrients so you will start to feel more vital
- Make your teeth stronger and less sensitive
- Reduce your risk of type 2 diabetes dramatically
- And another bonus: you will save so much money!
You can also see weight loss from cutting out soft drinks.
3 steps to help you to stop drinking soft drinks!
There is a simple 3-step process that can help you to stop drinking soft drinks and turn your health around.
Step 1- reduce the number of soft drinks you are drinking by a third
Seek out an organic soft drink alternative to your soft drink of choice. While the alternative soft drink will still contain sugar, it wonโt contain the other highly concerning ingredients. You could try something like kombucha which offers the same fizzy feeling without as much sugar.
Continue this for a week,ย or earlier if you are ready to cut back more.
Step 2- reduce by another third
Make sure you are drinking lots of water to helpย reduce the symptoms you may be having byย reducing sugar and caffeine.
Replace your soft drink with a super cold fizzy mineral water or soda water flavoured with fresh lemon or lime wedges.
Pat yourself on the back; you’re doing an amazing thing for your health! After another few days to a week at this stage, you’re ready to move on…
Step 3- let’s get rid of that remaining third!
Stick to water and cut out your soft drink consumption to zero by finding other, healthy ways to treat yourself.
If you really feel likeย a soft drink, then try infusing your own flavouredย mineral waters by adding some whole pieces ofย fruit to the bottle and letting it mix for a whileย before drinking.
Flavours that work well areย ginger and pear, pomegranate, mixed berries,ย lemon or lime, green tea and mint, or mangoย and orange.
Find out how drinking water with lemon can actually help you lose weight here!
Remember – Give It Time
Your taste buds will adjust.
Give them a chance and before you know it, sweet soft drinks will taste less appealing!
If you want some help to kick that sweet sugar habit check this out.
Why switching to diet soft drinks isn’t the way to go
Scientists have found that drinking just one diet fizzy drink a day could cause some extremely negative health problems. So if you think in your journey to stop drinking soft drinks you’ll just switch to diet…you may want to think twice.
The Dangers Of Diet Soft Drink
Researchers at Bostonโs University School of Medicine looked at ten yearsโ worth of data from more than 4,300 people to see if there was a link between them consuming diet drinks and developingย health issues.
Alarmingly, theyย found that people who drank artificially-sweetened soft drinks were three times more likely to suffer fromย a stroke compared to those who did not drink fizzy beverages.
Whatโs more, the study also suggests that diet soft drink fans were 2.9 times more likely to develop dementia.
โDrinking at least one artificially sweetened beverage daily was associated with almost three times the risk of developing stroke or dementia compared to those who drank artificially sweetened beverages less than once a week,โ says the research, which was published in Stroke, the journal of the American Heart Association.
โAfter adjustments for age, sex, education (for analysis of dementia), calorific intake, diet quality, physical activity and smoking, higher recent and higher cumulative intake of artificially sweetened soft drinks were associated with an increased risk of ischaemic stroke, all-cause dementia and Alzheimerโs disease dementia.
โTo our knowledge, our study is the first to report an association between daily intake of artificially sweetened soft drink and increased risk of both all-cause dementia and dementia because of Alzheimerโs disease.โ
But Don’tย Diet Soft Drinks Containย ‘No Sugar’?
While these diet soft drinks are advertised to contain โno sugarโ or โcaloriesโ they do use artificial sweeteners, such as Aspartame, which may lead to weight gain and the increase of developing type 2 diabetes. Which will cancel out the benefits of not drinking soft drinks.
Experts also found that those who regularly drink sugary beverages were more likely to have poorer short term memories and smaller brain volumes.
โDiet drinks, despite having zero sugar and hardly any calories, actually taste far sweeter than regular soft drinks,โ nutritionist Kristen Beck told News.com.au.
โThe problem is that the human brain isnโt set up to be able to deal with the intensely sweet, zero-calorie version of sweetness that artificial sweeteners provide.
โArtificial sweeteners provide an intensely sweet taste without any calories which can actually cause you to crave more sweet foods and drinks.
โIn turn, the sweetness drive you to eat more kilojoules from sweet foods and drinks than you normally would. While sugar signals a positive feeling of reward, artificial sweeteners may not be an effective way to manage a craving for sweets.โ
What an interesting and eye-opening study!
We’re not advocating to stop drinking soda (diet or otherwise) unless you want to, you may see some of the benefits of not drinking soft drinks if you make them a treat you enjoyย once in a while. However, most health professionals encourage us to drink a minimum of 2 litres of water a day.
One great alternative to soft drinks is The Healthy Man Meal Replacement shake!
Itโs the perfect low-calorie meal replacement for busy blokes wanting to boost weight loss and improve overall health. Itโs full of whey and soy protein which means itโll leave you feeling full and satisfied and keep you going till your next meal.
If you want to shift some kiloโs, look no further thanย The Healthy Manโs Meal Replacement!
The Healthy Manย Meal Replacement Shakeย is available inย Chocolateย andย Vanillaย and will:-
- Enhance fat-burning ability
- Increase stamina
- Improve gut health
- Increase energy, vitality and overall health
- Reduce beer belly
- Increase muscle strength
Get your tub of the Healthy Man Meal Replacement here
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