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whm1974 wrote:

Well I was drinking up to four 2L bottles a day of soda and even with just drinking the cheap stuff alone costs me ~$1000 a year. And I'm tired of being broke.

Egads, that's a lot. Even at my peak consumption I don't think I was going through anywhere near that much. Maybe two on a heavy day.

Captain Ned wrote:

My strong drink problem ran close to $4,000/yr and that was also cheap stuff.

Yikes, that's a lot too. $4K/year of cheap stuff will take a non-trivial health toll (assuming you're buying bottles at retail, and not doing that by the shot at a bar). Glad to hear you've cut back.

whm1974 wrote:

Ouch!!!

Yes, I'm sure his liver was saying "Ouch!" a lot too.

just brew it! wrote:

Yes, I'm sure his liver was saying "Ouch!" a lot too.

Well, I thought it was my gallbladder. Ultrasound took care of that mistaken notion. Losing 10,000 empty calories/week hasn't hurt either.

what's that come out to? 80+ shots a week?

paulWTAMU wrote:

what's that come out to? 80+ shots a week?

At least. Pretty hard-core.

just brew it! wrote:

paulWTAMU wrote:

what's that come out to? 80+ shots a week?

At least. Pretty hard-core.

Yeah it sure is.

It has been a full week now since I quit drinking soda and I'm feeling good about myself. Will I keep this up?

You win week 1. Gotta keep winning! I think you can keep it up.

We're proud of you!

whm1974 wrote:

It has been a full week now since I quit drinking soda and I'm feeling good about myself. Will I keep this up?

Good work. Only 1500 more to go. If you make it that long, you deserve a soda.

derFunkenstein wrote:

whm1974 wrote:

It has been a full week now since I quit drinking soda and I'm feeling good about myself. Will I keep this up?

Good work. Only 1500 more to go. If you make it that long, you deserve a soda.

You think he can start soda again at 72 years old?

What's the life expectancy in that locale? Seems to be ~76 per http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/usa/ ... tancy-male

If you can make it a week you can make it permanent!

just brew it! wrote:

If you can make it a week you can make it permanent!

That is what I'm shooting for.

derFunkenstein wrote:

Don't do it. Or do. Who am I to tell you how to live?

I think the quote is "Do or do not. There is no 'try'."

Nice work whm1974. I don't know what it's like to be addicted to something but I do know what it's like to have 1000 dollars to spend on something nice.

Topinio wrote:

derFunkenstein wrote:

whm1974 wrote:

It has been a full week now since I quit drinking soda and I'm feeling good about myself. Will I keep this up?

Good work. Only 1500 more to go. If you make it that long, you deserve a soda.

You think he can start soda again at 72 years old?

What's the life expectancy in that locale? Seems to be ~76 per http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/usa/ ... tancy-male

I don't see why not, if he wants to. It all depends on your perspective, but once you hit a certain age you kinda earn the right to be "bad", IMO.

derFunkenstein wrote:

I don't see why not, if he wants to. It all depends on your perspective, but once you hit a certain age you kinda earn the right to be "bad", IMO.

I agree. As long as the "badness" isn't causing a lot of grief for anyone else.

In a time of weakness, just remember all of the reasons you are doing it. Money, health, family are more important than the addiction. Keep it up man.

Yeah the diet stuff is terrible, the artificial sweeteners are usually sucralose or aspartame. Just look up the lab results for testing on rats for either. Headaches, cancers, everything bad.

whm1974 wrote:

It has been a full week now since I quit drinking soda and I'm feeling good about myself. Will I keep this up?

You can do it!

You've inspired me to do the same - not quite as far into it as you, but intend to make it!

just brew it! wrote:

derFunkenstein wrote:

I don't see why not, if he wants to. It all depends on your perspective, but once you hit a certain age you kinda earn the right to be "bad", IMO.

I agree. As long as the "badness" isn't causing a lot of grief for anyone else.

Yeah, there's the rub. I guess soda is likely on the "not too bad" side of that line, all things considered.

Topinio wrote:

just brew it! wrote:

derFunkenstein wrote:

I don't see why not, if he wants to. It all depends on your perspective, but once you hit a certain age you kinda earn the right to be "bad", IMO.

I agree. As long as the "badness" isn't causing a lot of grief for anyone else.

Yeah, there's the rub. I guess soda is likely on the "not too bad" side of that line, all things considered.

Right, of course there are limits. Being difficult or a jerk to the people around you crosses the line, but a cup of Mountain Dew? Go for it...when you're 70.

BTW since we hosted Thanksgiving, I picked up a 12-pack of Diet Pepsi because my parents like it. They drank about 3 cans between them and it's been extremely difficult to stay out of it for me. Even almost a year after kicking the habit I keep eyeing the cans...

derFunkenstein wrote:

BTW since we hosted Thanksgiving, I picked up a 12-pack of Diet Pepsi because my parents like it. They drank about 3 cans between them and it's been extremely difficult to stay out of it for me. Even almost a year after kicking the habit I keep eyeing the cans...

Tell me about it. It does get easier, though. I never went cold turkey, just weaned myself off slowly and now might have a can once in 4 months or so, socially, but the pull was strong at first as I used to drink a 1 l bottle of supermarket-brand cola every day at school, for years from age 11 to ~15 ... I found that beer worked quite well as an alternative when at home or in restaurants, but that solution might not work for everyone.

derFunkenstein wrote:

It's been extremely difficult to stay out of it for me. Even almost a year after kicking the habit I keep eyeing the cans...

Bring them to work and leave them on the table in the canteen with a free sign. That's what I do with food we don't want laying around the house for reasons.

Usacomp2k3 wrote:

derFunkenstein wrote:

It's been extremely difficult to stay out of it for me. Even almost a year after kicking the habit I keep eyeing the cans...

Bring them to work and leave them on the table in the canteen with a free sign. That's what I do with food we don't want laying around the house for reasons.

I did bring them to work. I work from home.

But point taken: I should take them out of the house and put them into the hands of someone who wants them.

Usacomp2k3 wrote:

derFunkenstein wrote:

It's been extremely difficult to stay out of it for me. Even almost a year after kicking the habit I keep eyeing the cans...

Bring them to work and leave them on the table in the canteen with a free sign. That's what I do with food we don't want laying around the house for reasons.

All of the snacks and drinks in ours are on the house. I've gained several pounds since I've started working here.

Breakfast this morning was a Kind bar, some Fig Newtons, and a bag of pita chips. Not the worst junk food, mind you... but still junk food. Oh, and a can of Diet Mt. Dew to wash it down.

just brew it! wrote:

If you can make it a week you can make it permanent!

Absolutely. Nice work making it this far, whm1974!

derFunkenstein wrote:

But point taken: I should take them out of the house and put them into the hands of someone who wants them.

Even if they don't want them.

Usacomp2k3 wrote:

derFunkenstein wrote:

But point taken: I should take them out of the house and put them into the hands of someone who wants them.

Even if they don't want them.

Or give it to a homeless person or even one who a drug addict. That is at least making sure it going to waste.

Welch wrote:

Yeah the diet stuff is terrible, the artificial sweeteners are usually sucralose or aspartame. Just look up the lab results for testing on rats for either. Headaches, cancers, everything bad.

I agree that sweeteners probably doesn't do anyone much good, however aspartame has been so extensively studied for so many years and no clear negative effects have been shown as long as you stay within reasonable amounts. As my doctor have said to me, rats will get cancer off anything as long as you give them a high enough dose. The same methods could probably 'prove' that kale, tomatoes and carrots would also cause cancer (and maybe it can if you eat extreme amounts of it).
The studies that have shown aspartame causing cancer was based on unrealistically high doses. They up the dose to accelerate the effect as they obviously can't wait 20-30 years to see the long-term effects. Then they'd need to engineer rats that can live as long as humans. As with a lot of stuff moderation is the key, although I will say that 4x2L of soda as quoted above per day is likely way above moderate levels..

I actually just poured one 1½L Pepsi Max down the drain some weeks ago since it was getting past it expiry-date.. I bought it more than half a year ago, but as it turned out I never feel the need for it any longer so even if I have it in the house, I just ignore it. This is a big change from 5 years ago when I would go to the shop on a cold rainy evening simply to get that Pepsi Max if I had run out..

whm1974 wrote:

Or give it to a homeless person or even one who a drug addict. That is at least making sure it going to waste.

Or throw it away and give the homeless person something they would actually benefit from?

The studies which "are considered adequate by EFSA and FDA to show the safety of APM" are not necessarily considered adequate by scientists in the field, and "do not provide adequate scientific support for APM safety" Soffritti, M., Padovani, M., Tibaldi, E., Falcioni, L., Manservisi, F. and Belpoggi, F. (2014), The carcinogenic effects of aspartame: The urgent need for regulatory re-evaluation. Am. J. Ind. Med. 57:383–397. doi:10.1002/ajim.22296

In general, there's a lack of good evidence for most non-basic ("don't overdo it", "don't get fat") positions taken on (processed/modern) food and drink, see e.g. Steven E. Nissen (2016), U.S. Dietary Guidelines: An Evidence-Free Zone. Ann Intern Med. 164:558–559. doi: 10.7326/M16-0035 : "The lack of high-quality RCTs [randomized, controlled clinical trials] has left dietary advice to cult-like advocates, often with opposite recommendations."

Two things we do know are that there are big downsides to these soft drinks, and that there is no evidence at all that the upsides are real rather than psychologically-induced by marketing: when people have looked at whether e.g. cola makes its drinkers happy (as marketed), "[n]o evidence was found that soft drink consumption has a beneficial effect on either the physical or mental dimensions of HRQL [health-related quality of life]." A Lana, E Lopez-Garcia & F Rodríguez-Artalejo (2015), Consumption of soft drinks and health-related quality of life in the adult population European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 69:1226–1232 doi:10.1038/ejcn.2015.103

I have also recently give up soda/pop as my main drink. I would go through one to two liters a day.

At first it was Mountain Dew until I had some health issues. Turns out I was more sensitive to something in Mt. Dew than most people. That something was BVO, Brominated Vegetable Oil. Bromine is the chemical element of atomic number 35, a dark red fuming toxic liquid with a choking, irritating smell. Pepsi used it in everything. They said they were going to remove it but it still can be found as an ingredient in Mountain Dew. I switched to Mello Yello since it did not contain BVO. But there have been several recent health studies saying the leading cause of heart disease and plaque build up was not in fact Cholesterol/fatty food but HFCS, High Fructose Corn Syrup.

Since I have been considering ditching Soda/pop for a while I decided to make a change. I gave it up and switched to Lipton Peach Iced Tea. While it still has some HFCS, 18 grams, its no where close to the amount a 12 oz. can of soda has, 45 grams. In the mean time I am still searching for something that has no HFCS at all but instead uses real surgar. Yes I could switch to diet but I don't like the taste and each of the various artificial sweeteners have their own health drawbacks.