Coca Cola!

Hiya,

@recombinantsocks yeah, the link is painfully aware for me. The dissodence (i know the logic is to go to the dentist and not drink cola) versus my actions (continue to drink cola, not go to the dentist) is very strong.

This week, i have massively cut down on soft drinks. I drank one meduim drink today while out with a work collgege (i took a fanta zero strawberry as a best effort giving the selection) and i had a single glass of pepsi max yesterday.

I also spent some time thinking about why pepsi max? I have concluded its not the drink. Its the pattern. Its easy (just pour) cold (from the fridge) and expected (my BF makes two glasses whenever he has a glass to "remind me" to drink)...

So i have brough a big bottle of squash (low sugar, robinsons stuff, an improvement as at leats its not carbonated!) and have refilled some old pepsi bottles with nice apple and blackcurrent squash Im going to see how it goes over the next few days.

yay!

Dentist wise i will be asking my best friend (and main carer) if he would take me the same way we approach the hairdressers when he visits tomorrow. Then its just the matter of finding a date where we can both book time off work and the dentist is avaliable.

Cheers

Jamie + Lion

Jamie,

have you made the connection between the cola and your need to visit the dentist? the acid in cola is really not good for teeth (or stomach) Ask your dentist what he thinks about cola.

The sweeteners in pepsi max aren't really any better.  They still affect your blood sugar levels in the same way sugar does, so you still get the crash and hunger of fluctuating sugar levels, and they also affect your digestive system.  That's why they put warnings on packets of sweets that are made from sweeteners 'excessive consumption may cause laxative effects'.  Because it does.  If I had litres of pepsi max I think I'd spend most of my time in the bathroom.

Hiya,

im much the same. Pepsi max, between me and my Boyfrind we drink thrOugh anything up to 4 litres a day sometimes.

I am am trying to do a 50:50 balence. Start the day with. 500ml bottle of Pepsi and a 500ml bottle of something else and then go from there. 

The good news is that pepsi max is at least low calories. Much lower than my last fluid obbsession. Milkshakes!

jamie + lion

If you were female it would've been worse as fizzy drinks affect bone quality in women, but not in men.  Can't remember why, but there was research done on it.

I'm lucky because I don't like fizzy drinks.  I find that addiction to things like cola is to do with addiciton to sugar.   I find with the less sugar I eat the less I need it.  I've really cut down on my sugar and I notice now when I tried to eat a while roll by kingmills or hovis or whatever it was, it was too sweet for me to eat.  This is when you discover there is sugar in everything.

If you think you can't cut it out forever just start by completely cutting it out for a week or two.  You'll maybe find that once you try to go back to it you won't want to as much

Caffeine is only one aspect of the coca cola problem. Coca Cola contains a lot of salt, as do a lot of "pepper" and citrus fizzy drinks. They need the sugar or arttificial sweetner in so-called low sugar versions to hide the taste of the salt. Apparently low caffeine coke has about the same salt content as ordinary coke.

As well as making you thirsty, the salt content has implications for blood pressure. The reason you want to drink more and more coca cola is the salt, increasing your thirst, and the "high" or buzz from the caffeine. It also makes you want to eat, which is why coca cola figures so strongly in fast food/junk food outlets.

Because of the sugar the calorific value is very high, so drinking lots of coca cola puts on weight. 

Do you like tea or coffee? Although they contain caffeine, particularly coffee, they are far healthier than coke because they usually contain no sugar or artificial ingredients. If you crave caffeine, tea and coffee will be better for you than coke, but still drink in moderation.

Cola is an issue to me too. Its full of caffene which messes up my sleep, and I worry about giving myself diabetes.

try replacing some of your colas w caffene free soft drinks and scale the cola out...