Soda Sucks!

I get it. Soda is tasty and easily accessible. However, soda is one of the worst things you can but into your body! If it was up to me, soda would be considered a drug and criminalized. I've seen people have "coke withdraws" and it is a very scary thing. Unfortunately, it is not up to me. Hopefully these facts and yummy alternatives will persuade you to avoid soda as if it was a drug.
The Chemicals
There are chemicals that make up soda that can cause cancer. Before you try and tell yourself "Oh the FDA approved it, so it must be ok! :-)" Think again. The FDA is a business, the FDA cares more about making money than your heath. Click here for four examples of the FDA not giving a crap. The carmel coloring in soda has also been linked to cancer. Coke and Pepsi products had to (slightly) alter their recipes to avoid a warning on the bottle of how crappy it is. You know what else has a warning on the packaging? Cigarettes! Yuck!

 It can affect your....everything

Addition is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to soda messing up your body.Soda literally sucks the calcium from your bones and if your drinking soda all the time, you're probably not drinking things with a lot of calcium like milk.These two things are the prerequisite to getting osteoporosis. If you're sticking to soda, you're probably not getting the vitamins you would usually get from drinking anything good for you (like juice). Vitamin deficiency can make your hair fall out and your skin dull. Ew! drinking a can of soda a day puts you at a higher risk for diabetes and heart disease. And PS, all that sugar will give you cavities 

 Addiction!
Like I said previously, I have seen people go through "coke withdraws". It is a very real thing. The caffeine found in most sodas is a stimulant! So when a soda addict doesn't get their "fix", negative effects can and probably will occur. Effects include: Depression, shaking, restlessness, irritability, and stomach aches.
Soda makes you sick!
Your immune system is weakened by soda. Dr. Sears (a pediatrician) says that soda can weaken your immune system for up to five hours. FIVE. Do you know what kind of shenanigans the average person gets into every five hours? How many dirty door handles, elevator buttons, and public restrooms does the average person come in contact with? How many times is the average person saying "Bless you" to a sneezing stranger? Exactly. Making yourself even more susceptible to germs is just silly.
Oh & if you have a stomach ache from drinking too much soda, ginger ale will NOT help you. There's not enough ginger in most ginger ale to make it any different from other sodas like sprite and seven up.

 The Empty Calories

Obviously, this is mostly for regular non "diet" soda. Most calories in soda come from the sugar of high fructose corn syup. Our body doesn't understand how to process those sugars, so it usually converts it to fat :(.There's about 150 calories in a serving of soda. There are a million better ways to use 150 calories that will also be beneficial to your body! 

         But there's hope! There are many awesome alternatives to soda! My favorite is putting a little bit of juice and filling up the rest of the cup with mineral water (such as pellegrino or perrier). I also enjoy Matinelli's apple cider, It's made with real apples. Martinelli's cider is basically carbonated apple juice. Perfection in a bottle! You even make plain water seem fancy by adding a slice of lemon/lime or some strawberries! If you're trying to lose a little bit of weight, cutting out side entirely is your best bet. My aunt actually lost 12 pounds in a month by switching her soda with tea. She looks great and you will too!