No More Diet Coke

Thursday, September 4, 2015

Walked 7,782 steps this morning. My goal is 10,000 steps a day. I am a little short but I will make it up this afternoon with another walk. I have a daily average of 6,790 steps. This includes days when I have to run errands or go out of town. I am just rying to stay healthy as I approach seventy.

The things that we do when we are younger really affects us when we are older. Today I feel great! I feel great because I don't have a hangover. That's right no hangover. For me it didn't take a lot of drinks to have a hangvoer, maybe one or two drinks. My body was not processing alcohol after many years of drinking. So the last time that I had a drink was on July 4, 1992. Today, that is over 23 years of being sober and it feels just great. Those of you who knew me in my youth know how much I loved to drink and all the problems that it caused for me in relationships and with the legal system. I won't go into that right now that will have to be another posting. Not drinking, being sober,  has really helped me with health issues today. I just got a clean bill of health after having both a lower and upper G.I.s My blood tests were all in order. All tests were within normal ranges. Not drinking has impacted some of my family members, they are also not drinking. So that makes me very happy. But I have to lose those 10 pounds that everyone is trying to lose. I am working on it, everyday.

One of the things that I have done to try to stay healthy is  that I have given up Diet Coca Cola. Yes, I have given up Diet Coke after years and years of drinking Diet Coke. I have to find a nice drink replacement, maybe unsweetened ice tea. I had my last Diet Coke on Tuesday. I went to Sam's yesterday and always buy a 36 pack of Diet Coke but not yesterday. There is not one Diet Coke in my home right now. . I will keep you posted in future blogs to see how this affects my health because as we approach seventy years the main thing that we need to do is to Stay Healthy My Friends. My mother used to say, "Si No Tienes Tu Salud, No Tienes Nada." You have nothing without your health.

Let me list some of the problems with Diet Coke according to the Mayo Clinic. I say this after years of drinking Diet Coke. Remember It is never to late to try get healthy. I might switch to sparkling water, sounds like the best replacement.

1. It confuses your body

Artificial sweeteners have more intense flavor than real sugar, so over time products like diet soda dull our senses to naturally sweet foods like fruit.  Even more troubling, these sugar stand-ins have been shown to have the same effect on your body as sugar. Artificial sweeteners trigger insulin, which sends your body into fat storage mode and leads to weight gain.

2. It could lead to weight gain, not weight loss

Diet soda is calorie-free, but it won't necessarily help you lose weight. Researchers from the University of Texas found that over the course of about a decade, diet soda drinkers had a 70% greater increase in waist circumference compared with non-drinkers. And get this: participants who slurped down two or more sodas a day experienced a 500% greater increase. The way artificial sweeteners confuse the body may play a part, but another reason might be psychological

3. It's associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes

Drinking one diet soda a day was associated with a 36% increased risk of metabolic syndrome and diabetes in a University of Minnesota study. Metabolic syndrome describes a cluster of conditions (including high blood pressure, elevated glucose levels, raised cholesterol, and large waist circumference) that put people at high risk for heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.

4. It has no nutritional value

When you drink diet soda, you're not taking in any calories—but you're also not swallowing anything that does your body any good, either. The best no-calorie beverage? Plain old water.  "Water is essential for many of our bodily processes.  If it's the fizziness you crave, try sparkling water.

5. Its sweetener is linked to headaches

Early studies on aspartame and anecdotal evidence suggests that this artificial sweetener may trigger headaches in some people.

6. It'll ruin your smile over time

Excessive soda drinking could leave you looking like a Breaking Bad extra, according to a case study published in the journal General Dentistry. The research compared the mouths of a cocaine-user, a methamphetamine-user, and a habitual diet-soda drinker, and found the same level of tooth erosion in each of them. The culprit here is citric acid, which weakens and destroys tooth enamel over time.

7. It's associated with depression

A recent study presented at a the American Academy of Neurology meeting found that over the course of 10 years, people who drank more than four cups or cans of soda a day were 30% more likely to develop depression than those who steered clear of sugary drinks. The correlation held true for both regular and diet drinks, but researchers were sure to note that the risk appeared to be greater for those who primarily drank diet sodas and fruit punches. Although this type of study can't prove cause and effect, its findings are worth considering.

8. It may be bad for your bones

Women over 60 are already at a greater risk for osteoporosis than men, and Tufts University researchers found that drinking soda, including diet soda, compounds the problem. They discovered that female cola drinkers had nearly 4% lower bone mineral density in their hips than women who didn't drink soda. The research even controlled for the participants' calcium and vitamin D intake. Additionally, a 2006 study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that cola intake (all kinds, not just diet) was associated with low bone-mineral density in women.

9. It may hurt your heart

Just one diet soft drink a day could boost your risk of having a vascular event such as stroke, heart attack, or vascular death, according to researchers from the University of Miami and Columbia University. Their study found that diet soda devotees were 43% more likely to have experienced a vascular event than those who drank none. Regular soda drinkers did not appear to have an increased risk of vascular events. Researchers say more studies need to be conducted before definitive conclusions can be made about diet soda's effects on health.

Now if I could only give up ice cream and white bread. I am going to work on those too. Stay posted.

Oh, I just finished my second walk and my total for today is 11,132 steps or about 4.64 miles.

Stay Healthy My Friends.