Okay, we all know that regular pop is terrible for you. That’s a no-brainer. It’s full of refined sugar and refined sugar is bad!
But what about diet pop? It has no sugar and no calories. How bad can it be for you?? Wouldn’t it be okay to drink diet pop instead of regular pop as you seek to lose weight?
Well, before I answer that, let me just say that I used to be a Diet Dr. Pepper ADDICT in my “former life” before P90X! During Round 1, I gave it up completely. Cold turkey! Wow, was that hard!!!
I went with water and flavored water the entire round, and was so proud of myself. Before P90X, I drank at least 100 oz of diet pop per day (a 52 oz. on the way to work and another 52 oz. on the way home), so to completely stop was an amazing accomplishment in my eyes. I never cheated on diet pop during Round 1.
As I started Round 2, I decided to “allow” myself one or 2 diet pops per week, and I don’t think it hurt my outward results at all. Once I broke the addiction, I decided that in moderation I could allow myself just a small amount as a special treat. That’s worked well for me over these last few rounds. Is it as good for me as water? Of course not! But is 1 or 2 diet pops per week going to kill me? Probably not.
When I do have a Diet Dr. Pepper now, it’s as a treat on a date night or something like that. And it’s planned for. I don’t cave into instant cravings when getting gas or driving by the convenience store. That can quickly spiral out of control. But in calculated moderation, a small amount of diet pop won’t derail your progress or results.
And now for the answer to your question. Why is diet pop bad for you? There are a few arguments that don’t worry me too much. They include:
1) It has lots of artificial sweeteners, which studies show can cause harmful effects in high doses.
2) It is believed to trigger an insulin response, which can actually increase our cravings and lead to weight gain by making us more hungry.
3) It often has a lot of caffeine, sodium, and other additives.
I don’t think those are a very big deal as long as you only have a pop/diet pop occasionally. But here’s the one that worries me most as a former Diet Dr. Pepper junkie:
1) It’s full of acid! Acid is BAD! A big influx of acid with heavy pop/diet pop consumption requires our body to use calcium and other stored minerals to re-balance our pH. This can have very detrimental long-term effects on our bone mass (where calcium and minerals are stored).
Yikes! I don’t want to think of my body having to break down my bones to cancel out the acidity of the diet pop I just drank! That’s why keeping it to a minimum is the wise decision! It has nothing to do with whether or not it will make you fat. It has everything to do with what it’s doing to your body’s long term health and vitality!
Watch this video to learn more about our body’s pH and how pop/diet pop can throw it off big time!
Need a coach?
My email: coachwayne@teamripped.com
IG: @wayne_wyatt
