Quitting Soda Cold Turkey

This is my coming out party. To my close friends, family, and colleagues, this will come as no surprise, but, um, I drink soda. Specifically, Diet Coke. Sometimes I manage to quit, but then I always come a'crawlin' back.

In Mexico, regular Coke is made with cane sugar and it is delicious. A glass bottle of ice-cold Mexican Coca-Cola is not to be missed. Here in the US Coke is made with High Fructose Corn Syrup, something I really don't care for on a whole lotta levels, including its taste. It leaves a slick sugary burn on the back of my throat, and frankly -- blech. (for more on the merits of South American Coke, check out this post on the Atlantic Monthly Food Channel). So, here in the US I forgo regular Coke, and I opt for the Diet, with its Nutrasweet tang (for more about the sweetness levels in various fake sweeteners, read this article in the Times Dining Section).

After a brief bout with the cancer (a little one, "the best kind," said the oncologist), I looked at my life and asked myself where this could have come from. Logically I knew that sometimes cancer comes uninvited, with no place set at the table and no friendly welcomes. But what if, what if, I wondered, there was something I was eating/drinking/doing that brought this on?

By that point I was a pretty much a model of real food eating--mostly organics, almost nothing processed. I didn't smoke, I didn't drink much, and I exercised like crazy. All of which, I realize makes me sound pretty un-fun. But, but I'm a blast, I am! I digress...

In a medical-panic-fueled-frenzy, I wondered if my Diet Coke thing--let's call it that--was the problem. Sweetened with the questionable aspartame, laden with fake colors, nutritionally bereft, but oh-so-good with a slice of pizza, was Diet Coke the culprit?

I quit cold turkey, finally started guzzling water like you're supposed to, and felt pretty darn good about. Sure there was the fact that I now had no vices, and had maybe lost the little bit of edge I once possessed. But I felt like I'd cut out a little pernicious growth of hypocrisy, just like my doc had snipped out that pesky tumor.

This lasted six months.

In the 2 years since, I have gotten on and off the ol' soda wagon more times than I can count. And when I titled this post "quitting soda cold turkey," it was more aspirational than real, and I'm just now as I write this going through a trying-to-kick-it cycle. Or thinking about trying to kick it, maybe, say, after the weekend. Or maybe the following weekend. We'll see.

Comments

[suigeneris]

I hear Pepsi just came out with a new variety called "Throwback" that has real sugar in it instead of corn syrup. That's kind of like killing people with iron bullets instead of lead, I guess.

[PlaceboStudman]

I'm a Coca Cola (Classic, not Diet) addict myself, so I feel your pain. Sure, I've tried to quit, and drink things like sweetened iced tea, and super sweet chocolate "milk" drink, which I suppose are just as bad if the sweeteners are the cause of our ailments. But, nothing, nothing at all, beats the luscious delictable combination of sweetness and tang that comes from the carbonation. I've tried drinking plain soda water but....ugh....I'll pass. I'm at a point in my life where I have so many other things to worry about that I've just decided not to deny myself this vice. Of course I have others, but we don't need to go there LOL

[bellemeade]

Man, can I identify with YOU. I usually eat well, don't drink or smoke, but if my Classic Coke - no diet (can't stand it) 12 pack gets down to 4 or less, I start to panic. Coke for me is like morning coffee - can't start the day without it. And truly... everything goes better with Coca Cola Classic. it is the elixr of the Gods.

[LADawson]

Mexican glass-bottled Coke is readily available in the US. I couldn't imagine bringing myself to drink the chemical laden swill that is any diet soda. I've found that going to natural fruit juices can help stem some of the soda urges though... and increase your intake of water.