Growing up, I drank soda here and there, but it was mostly 7-Up or Sprite. It wasn’t until my late teens/early 20’s I began drinking Coca Cola (dark soda) that I literally became addicted to. I drank one almost every day, if not everyday. It came out of nowhere, especially because I hadn’t grown up drinking this soda daily. As I’ve discovered, the dark colored soda is much worse for you due do the coloring – which can stain teeth to the fullest.

I obviously knew soda was bad for you, but it was just so delicious that I had to drink it with at least one meal a day. This lasted probably 3 or 4 years, which seems like a lifetime in my eyes now. I can’t believe I did that to my body. I did try and stop drinking soda a couple times, but it was really difficult. So I just continued to drink it.

It wasn’t until February 2016 when Joseph was taking a health class and learned all the dangers of drinking soda. He shared with me all the details and encouraged me to stop drinking soda. He laid off the soda, which helped me lay off the soda as well. When you have another person to encourage you and also stop the bad habits along with you, I can’t tell you how much this truly helps.

Look at these horrible ingredients listed from the Coca Cola website:

They state the FDA regards the GMOs as ‘safe’ but how can a genetically modified sweetener be safe?!! It’s unnatural, and if you look at the rest of the ingredients, you can see that there is nothing positive about drinking a can of soda.

Of course I didn’t quit cold turkey of course. That’s very hard to do when you’re addicted to something. I did not have a replacement drink in alternative to soda. I just basically cut down soda from daily  – to weekends only. That was definitely an improvement, and although it was hard, I kept thinking in the back of my head: ” Do NOT put these chemicals into your body. It may cause health issues in the future if you continue.”

After a few months, and the remaining of 2016, I began having only ONE soda a week, which was during the weekend.  I couldn’t believe I was actually improving even more.  Before I had a drink of soda, I would think and ask myself first, what was I putting into my body? Did I want high cholesterol? Did I want to gain weight and be obese? Did I want to get diabetes? Did I want my teeth stained, with cavities and rotted? I asked myself these questions and it literally helped me in quitting all in all.

By the end of 2016, I was no longer craving soda like I once did, and I no longer wanted it. All I drank (and currently still do) is water. Alkaline water is the only healthy drink that cleans out your system and helps your skin. It’s now almost May 2017 and I have not had ONE SIP or drink of soda this year. I’m looking forward to going the entire year without a sip of soda. Since I no longer crave it, I’m 100% sure I can go the whole year without it! [[UPDATE: I did end up going the entire 2017 without drinking soda. I drank a soda on January 1, 2018 and hated it. It also broke me out. So I will continue the promise to myself and not drink it.]]

When I see people I know drinking soda, I always try and encourage them to lay off on the soda. It only took that one person to motivate me to stop, so if I can be helpful informing others about this contaminated drink I would be more than happy to. It changed my life and health, in which I encourage for everyone.

It just frustrates me to think these brands are creating these drinks that are horrible to people’s health – just for money! Yes, the person can decide if they want to drink it or not, but when kids see it on TV and everywhere, they of course want it. It’s everywhere in our society and can be hard to deny at times, but if they just didn’t make it, then this wouldn’t be happening in the first place.

I’m of course not here to knock these brands or rant on this – but you only have one body and health and you need to take care of it as much as you possibly can! Of course there are instances where our health is out of our control, but until then you can take care of your body as much as you can. I know I don’t always eat the best or cook every day, but at least I cut one harmful drink out of my life that could have caused health problems in the future.

Water is the way to go (especially with pH 7.4 or higher). Soda is very acidic, which is bad for your body, and you need to balance the acid in your body by drinking water with a high pH rate. There are waters out there with low pH levels, which is pointless! It’s so unfortunate we were never taught what type of water to drink in school. I always thought all purified water was ‘good’ and ‘healthy’ but unfortunately that’s not the case. The more expensive waters with high pH levels are the only way to go when drinking water to balance out the acid. Other waters may be acidic and not balancing anything out in your body.

I hope this post was helpful to you and encourages you to take care of your body! This is exactly what I did to avoid drinking soda, and I hope it helps you too! Stop drinking soda and get hydrated with water!! 😀