These magical things happen when you finally give up soda (2024)

FAQs

These magical things happen when you finally give up soda? ›

Your mind seems sharper and migraines go away. You have heard that diet soda withdrawal can cause migraines. Cutting out diet soda will cut down on the headaches and you will think much more clearly. The chemicals found in artificial sweetener alter the brain chemicals, the brain's reward system, and nerve signals.

“Cutting soda out of your diet not only lowers your risk for weight gain, but may help you actually lose weight as well,” says Dr. Rodriguez-Lopez. Opting out of that 12 ounce can of soda saves about 140 calories and 32 grams of sugar.

can per day, you will be cutting 150 calories from your diet once you stop drinking soda. A pound of fat is equivalent to 3,500 calories, which means you can lose a pound every three and a half weeks by cutting out sodas. You can lose even more weight if you regularly consume more calories through sodas.

Dehydration: While soda may quench your thirst momentarily, it's not a good source of hydration. Soda contains caffeine, which is a diuretic and can cause dehydration if consumed in large amounts. 5. Increased Risk of Heart Disease: Drinking soda every day can increase your risk of heart disease.

Water is a great choice, of course, but many people find it too bland or boring. You can try drinks like seltzer and unsweetened iced tea, and look for ways to make water fun. “Water comes in all kinds of varieties: iced, cold, room temp and hot, as well as infused with lemon, cucumber, mint and strawberry.

Your pancreas

“The pancreas helps us control blood sugar levels by secreting insulin,” Jamieson says. “Insulin helps regulate blood sugar levels but also encourages pancreatic cells to grow and divide. The study suggests that by increasing insulin, soft drinks could also increase the risk of cancer developing.

While avoiding soda can increase your chances of weight loss, it's not guaranteed. For weight loss to happen, there has to be a calorie deficit so eating a healthy diet is vital. Still, there are many health benefits of a soda-free life beyond lower calorie consumption.

Quitting soda will not only help you to lose weight but will also improve your health. When consumed on a regular basis, sugary soda and other high-calorie drinks can lead to obesity and even chronic disease.

However, drinking only water for an extended period of time is bad for your health. Not only does it lead to poor fluid balance, it can cause long term health conditions. While it is important to drink enough water everyday, only drinking water is not enough to stay hydrated.

What happens to your kidneys when you stop drinking soda? ›

Kidney function improves.

Now that your body no longer has to make sense of the unpronounceable ingredients in diet soda, your kidneys can get back to clearing toxins, stabilizing blood pressure and absorbing minerals.

It's no surprise that coffee tops this list as one of the most dehydrating drinks due to its caffeine content—but don't worry, one or two cups of joe won't tip you over into total dehydration.

Even one or two colas a day could increase your risk of type 2 diabetes by more than 20%. Sugar intake is linked to high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and excess fat, all of which increase the risk of heart disease. Colas and other sugary drinks have been linked to an increased risk of pancreatic cancer.

A 20-ounce serving of Gatorade's Thirst Quencher contains 36 grams of sugar. While that's a bit less sugar per ounce than your average soda, it's not exactly healthy. In fact, Berkeley researchers say the sugar in sports drinks may be contributing to the child obesity epidemic by increasing caloric intake.

Sugar's half life suggests it would clear the system within 30 minutes. Caffeine on the the other hand could take up to 10 hours to clear the system entirely, depending on amount present in the soda and how much was consumed, tolerance, metabolism, etc.

If you're drinking an average of 150 calories of soda every day, not drinking soda will save you 1,050 calories per week. Over a year's time, that translates to the equivalent of more than 15 pounds of fat — not including any weight you'd lose from other lifestyle changes such as getting more exercise.

Cutting down from two per day to one can yields about a 16 pound yearly loss. People often reach for soda or seltzer to alleviate an upset stomach. This can work, although only temporarily. Carbonation is theorized to actually bind to fat cells.