diet soda

[Goddess_girl]

I have a problem; I have been trying to go 100% raw but often fail.
When I go into the grocery store I get a little wild with what I put into my cart; before I know it I have some crakers, a candy bar and some soda.
Which are not at all raw.
I really want to start the new year raw.
I also have a hard time kicking the soda habbit;
I am begginig to wonder if there is a connection.
It is diet soda; but will this keep my body in the "craving" mode?
I mean I though i could phase it out after awhile; but I have been trying to phase it out for 3 months now.

Any advise would be helpful.

[sport]

I think that the battle with food is won or lost at the store. If you do not bring it home then you can't eat it. Eat a huge meal before you go shopping and food will not seem as attractive. I recently found something on the web about the dangers of Aspartmame and diet sodas. I will try to send it on to you but you probably know all that anyway.

[Revvell]

Aspartame is addicting. It is one of the worst chemicals you can put in your body. One of my former co-workers almost went blind drinking that stuff as it turns into wood-alcohol. Last time we spoke she told me she'd finally broken the addiction.

R.

[Halo Aglow]

I had an immediate reaction to aspartme one time. I felt so sick, like poison was flowing through me (which it was!!!). And Splenda is bad also. Just because you are not having any noticeable reactions now, doesn't mean nothing bad is happening, because it is. My sister realized after awhile of consuming Splenda, it started making her heart race and blood pressure go way up and she's never had blood pressure problems before. Please leave all that stuff alone.

[Goddess_girl]

I had an immediate reaction to aspartme one time. I felt so sick, like poison was flowing through me (which it was!!!). And Splenda is bad also. Just because you are not having any noticeable reactions now, doesn't mean nothing bad is happening, because it is. My sister realized after awhile of consuming Splenda, it started making her heart race and blood pressure go way up and she's never had blood pressure problems before. Please leave all that stuff alone.

I cant use splenda either; it gives me migranes and i cant fuction AT ALL.

[maydolphin10]

try replacing your soda with mineral water mixed with juice and maybe some sweetener. i love sparkling cranberry juice

[JennaBoBenna]

People get headaches/migraines from drinking diet sodas because the aspartame is actually destroying the brain!! OUCH!

[Kris]

try replacing your soda with mineral water mixed with juice and maybe some sweetener. i love sparkling cranberry juice

This is a great suggestion! I do this all the time. I drink sparkling mineral water with tons of lemon, lime, or orange slices. You get the bubbles and the flavor, but none of the caffeine or other horrible chemical additives. You can also get it at a bar when you go out, so you too can have a drink in your hand while you chat with your friends

[jax]

Aspartame kills the brain?? :eek: and I've been addicted to diet soda for decades!! Happily, I haven't had any since I went back to raw 15 days ago. Unfortunately, I can't say the same about coffee. :o Oh well, one day at a time. Honestly though, I wonder just how much of my current condition (FM &CF) is due to food and drink choices (over the years) verses genetics, stress, etc.? The fact that after awhile on all raw food, 99% of my symptoms just "disappear" should answer that question huh? :rolleyes:

Jax

[sigtau66]

Maydolphin has the best suggestion so far.

This website: http://www.truthpublishing.com/5softdrinkmonsters.html has an ebook you can purchase about soft drinks and it also gives a way to break the addiction. The author recommends not quitting cold turkey, but taking a phased approach like you would if you were addicted to a narcotic, e.g. cocaine, heroin, etc., as caffeine is a narcotic. Maydolphin's approach is basically what the ebook suggests. But you do it as a phased approach as there is a physiological and psychological effect that drinking a soft drink has on people.

As for the "craving" you were speaking of, yes diet soda will keep you craving. Caffeine is what you are craving. Also, Aspartame actually causes obesity in people who ingest it.

I hope this helps some. Good luck.

[Rawmommie]

Jax, I was addicted to diet soda and also diagnosed with FM and CFS. When I quit drinking it I felt better almost immediately except for a period where I think my muscles had to heal and regenerate. Aspartame spreads poison all over your body and my personal opinion is that this is what causes the pain in the muscles associated with FM.

There was a time I couldn't imagine not having diet soda, but like all things when you give it up you will realize that you can do it and it's worth it to end the pain and discomfort you are putting your body through. Good luck!

[Helen Of Tennessee]

Although they are selling a DVD on this website, it does give some info on diet pop that will open your eyes:

http://www.mercola.com/forms/sweet_misery.htm

Aspartame is not your friend. In 1991, the National Institutes of Health listed 167 symptoms and reasons to avoid the use of aspartame, but today it remains a multi-million dollar business. Known to erode intelligence and affect short-term memory, the components of this toxic sweetener may lead to a wide variety of ailments including:

Brain tumors
Birth defects
Diseases like lymphoma, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, fibromyalgia, and chronic fatigue
Emotional disorders like depression and anxiety attacks
Epilepsy/seizures
Migraines
Numbness
Hearing Loss and ringing in the ears
Blindness, blurred vision and other eye problems
Stomach disorders

<>< Helen of Tennessee

[Airmid]

Here's a great soda alternative:
http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3976&highlight=mint+ginger+soda
I usually drink water but I love this. My SAD husband with a serious diet pepsi addiction likes it also.

[mbf]

It took me 6 months to get of coffee. I was not ready to completely give it up until I felt I was not depriving myself. I weaned myself off slowly then one day just felt I was ready. I couldn't force myself to do it, it was then to much like a diet and I didn't want any negative feelings :mad: associated with giving up coffee ( which was a huge source of comfort and happiness for 23 years ).

So, I tell my clients with all foods, you'll keep making that mistake and hopefully learn from it and then one day soon you'll be able to confidently make the choice to not have the soda or candy bar and feel really good and positive about that decision :D .

MBF

[Raspberry4]

I cannot quote the source but I remember reading an article that stated that artificial sweeteners are actually more addicting than sugar! And, they keep you from actually losing weight/fat too. Good luck letting go.

[margi]

Aspartame is actually an appetite stimulant. It will prevent you from losing weight and cause you to crave carbohydrates.

[SamuelWilson]

Eat a huge meal before you go shopping and food will not seem as attractive.

Very good advice, I agree with that method. If you are full when you go to the grocery store, the chemical reactors in your mind have had their "fix" and you will be mellow and make more logical purchases.

[sachis2112]

I would like to tell you a story. My first husband was a relatively healthy eater. While not vegan, he was vegitarian for his health. He drank only diet drinks. He drank about 4 or 5 diet peach Snapples in the evening which meant he drank probably two during the work day.

I never believed in aspertame causing brain tumors or any such thing because I knew that, when testing lab rats, they use a ridiculous concentration of the chemical to test with. I still don't completely believe it but now there's that nagging question.

My husband was diagnosed with a brain tumor of undetermined origin in 2001 at age 34. He was treated and in remission. He had a stroke at age 36 and passed away three weeks later. The cancer had returned.

Like I said, I still don't completely believe it but the question nags enough that, when I fall away from raw for a while, I NEVER drink diet drinks anymore.

[Revvell]

He had a stroke at age 36 and passed away three weeks later....

Like I said, I still don't completely believe it but the question nags enough that, when I fall away from raw for a while, I NEVER drink diet drinks anymore.

I don't "believe" anything yet, I do look at facts and personal experiences. I've already mentioned my co-worker who was going blind in her mid-30's. A heavy diet soda drinker.

I also had a client who brought his wife in ~ had a stroke at age 43. She couldn't hardly talk, could barely walk. When I was through with her, I suggested she drink lots of water. Two words she could say ~ "no! Soda!" Even after what had happened should would not give up her diet soda. When I spoke with her husband, he told me even if he didn't give her money she would get herself to the local store and they would give her soda. I spoke with her mother and she told me the only thing she could relate the stroke to was the soda. Why aspartame can still be on the market is beyond my understanding... but then, cigarettes, sugar, etc. are also. *shrugs* It's everyone's choice what they are willing to ingest. Nature made plants for us to nourish and sustain our bodies; not drugs.

R.

[sigtau66]

I never believed in aspertame causing brain tumors or any such thing because I knew that, when testing lab rats, they use a ridiculous concentration of the chemical to test with.

If you dig deeper into those tests, you'll see that they actually only observe the subjects for one day. They give them a huge injection of aspartame, see that they don't die, and label it safe for human consumption. No "scientific" study ever done that comes out positive for aspartame is a long term study. Those studies last only days.

All the tests done in the 70s on aspartame were long-term studies with rats and an overwhelming percentage (I believe in the 70% range) showed an increase in cancer. There is, without a shadow of a doubt, a link between aspartame consumption and brain disorders and cancer.

[sachis2112]

All the tests done in the 70s on aspartame were long-term studies with rats and an overwhelming percentage (I believe in the 70% range) showed an increase in cancer. There is, without a shadow of a doubt, a link between aspartame consumption and brain disorders and cancer.
Yes, these are the studies I'm familiar with. I agree that there's a link. I just meant to say that propbably anything unnatural can give you cancer if you ingest/inhale enough and I believe the amounts these poor rats were given, to my recollection, were ridiculous in comparison to, say, a can of diet soda. I am not completely convinced as to how much of what he was drinking would have affected DH's untimely death. (Please note that he passed two years before I found raw.)

However, since I have the will to say no to it, I'm erring on the side of caution. This was obviously a hard time in my life that I don't care to go through again, if I can avoid it.... so no diet/aspertame ANYTHING in my house! :D

Just like Rev said, looking at facts and personal experience, it's pretty hard to ignore.

[kayla]

I used to drink something like 2-3 (sometimes more) regular sodas like pepsi per day and just not buying them at the store was the best solution for me. I just bought two big cases of bottled water to drink during the week instead. It's just as convenient as soda to pull out of the fridge and I really kinda even forgot what the taste of soda was and it wasn't even tempting because it wasn't there at all.

I don't know your particular living situation (husband, kids?) and whether they are on raw either, but soda isn't good for anyone, so just stop buying it. I found cold turkey the best solution for me, phasing it out would keep me too tempted. But, different things work for different people.

One thing that I'll continually mess up on though is going to restaurants or the movies, where I'll just instictively get soda and not realize it until after it's almost gone. I'm not raw (yet), but I just thought I'd share my experience. I've never been addicted to diet soda though, so it may be different for you. I found that drinking all the water instead also cut down on headaches I'd get from missing the sugar and caffeine.

Good luck. ;)

[RawTruth]

Another way to avoid those non-raw things jumping into your basket is to stay away from places where they're sold. Buy your fresh, raw, ripe fruits and veggies at farmers' markets or produce stands. Get your paper goods from health food stores or Trader Joe's if you have one near you.

Back when I was "only" a vegetarian, I learned that the way to approach supermarkets was to shop only the outside areas and not venture into the inside aisles. If you must -- or prefer to -- buy your food at a supermarket, incorporate these strategies: For sure, go with a really full tummy and, hopefully, a bottle of pure water that you'll sip as you push your cart, shop the produce section first to fill your cart with tons of fruits/veggies, shop with a list so you go to only the aisles where you need things -- toilet paper, for example, or detergent (by the way, there's not much else that a raw foodist could buy down any other aisles). Definitely don't cruise up and down every single aisle. There's no reason to go down the canned soup aisle, for instance, and certainly not down the soda aisle. Time yourself and try to be in and out in 15 minutes - treat it as a race.

I don't know about you, but, for me, once I learned what was in those pseudo-foods (crackers, candy, soda), I simply couldn't eat them anymore. This may not be the case for you, but, if you don't know, maybe researching the ingredients and finding out how denatured, dead, and toxic they are will cause you to yank them back out if they "happen" to jump into your cart. ;)

[sachis2112]

I don't know about you, but, for me, once I learned what was in those pseudo-foods (crackers, candy, soda), I simply couldn't eat them anymore.
This is ABSOLUTELY the case for me too! I know that, even if I can't manage to be 100% raw, I will NEVER AGAIN buy a pre-packaged meal of any kind. The thought of what we were eating when I bought a "crock-pot creations" or something like it.... <shudder> :eek: