Diet Soda: You're Doing It Wrong

A fizzy, sweet glass of ice cold soda is the dream of many American thirsts.  Unfortunately, the sugar-clad beverage is notoriously bad for your health.  The soda companies' solution? Diet soda: A low, to zero calorie alternative, while still getting your fix.  Although the idea seems simple enough, just forcefully remove any harmful ingredients in a recipe that consists of, well, almost all bad ingredients.  Yup.  That makes sense.  For all of you folks who order the enchilada plate with a Diet Coke, be prepared for disappointment (although you really weren't helping yourself with those enchiladas).


- Photo courtesy of WomanAroundTown.com -


As a matter of fact, an accredited medical center, in my own hometown of San Antonio, conducted a study on diet soda and it's impact on human health.  They experimented with two groups of people, one who drank regular soda, and the other who drank the diet counterpart.  The percentage of diet soda drinkers and higher health risks was staggeringly higher than those who drank regular soda in the same amounts.  Research elsewhere determined that diet drinkers are at higher risk of stroke, heart disease and diabetes.

Although modern science can be a life saver, it really shouldn't be heavily involved in our food.  The more science, the more artificial ingredients, hormone injected everything, and unpronounceable lists of preservatives.  All of those items which typically are not found in our food naturally, are going right into our bodies, and causing unpleasant side effects.

Here are the ingredients in your can/bottle of Diet Coke:

-  Carbonated Water
-  High Fructose Corn Syrup
-  Caramel Color
-  Phosphoric Acid
-  Natural Flavors  
-  Caffeine
-  Aspartame (sweetener)
-  Potassium Benzoate
-  Citric Acid

Quite the odd list of ingredients, and you're drinking it!  Really the only naturally occurring ingredient on that entire list is caffeine.  Even then, that substance isn't naturally found by itself, it's part of other foods.  Water is the basis of all life on earth, but not when it's carbonated.  High fructose corn syrup?  I guess the FDA just pumps everything with that stuff, we don't even realize we're crackheads it seems.  Phosphoric acid is used to remove rust from iron and steel, no wonder it destroys our teeth!  Natural flavors?  Flavors of what exactly?  I don't think cola tastes like anything natural other than sugar.  The rest, all just man made materials to over-sugar, preserve, and a feeble attempt to inject some sort of flavor.  Sorry folks, but that list sounds FAR from enticing. 

Moral of the story:  If you can't read it, don't eat it!  (Or drink, in this case)

We need to take a step back a few generations.  Back to a time where processed foods were unheard of. We are sacrificing our own health for the sake of convenience, which is one of the worst decisions we can make for ourselves, and our families.  Feed your bodies pure, natural ingredients. That is health in it's original form.  

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