Ok, I feel it is time to do a little post on SODA! I get a lot of questions about soda and people are often surprised at my answer. It is often assumed that because I am a clean eater and a nurse I am a complete, 100% no go on soda. Since I am a recovering Dr. Pepper addict (20 months clean!) I know what soda means to the daily diet. So lets take a minute to chat it out.
When soda (carbonation) was created by Joseph Priestley in the late 1700’s the idea of carbonation was used to enhance taste in beverages. In the late 1800’s Dr. John Pemberton, Caleb Bradham, Charles Alderton or Charles Hires invented the classic soda, Coca-Cola (1886), Pepsi (1893) Dr Pepper (1885), and Hires Root Beer (1866)*. The soda of the late 1800’s and early 1900’s is no where near the soda of today.
Soda originally contained real sugar, caramel, and carbonation. The beverage industry has turned the original mom and pop soda into a 23 billion dollar business. The average soda has a laundry list of ingredients (most unrecognizable) with a huge amount of artificial sweeteners and flavors. If you want to read about some of those sweeteners you can check out my article on The Evil one. The industry has also spent millions of dollars developing the “free” soda with hopes of sucking in the dieter and scale watching monster in all of us. You can check out my article on What is Stevia for my take on this.
My soda philosophy is actually quite simple.
An occasional REAL soda in moderation is OK! (go ahead take a minute…..)
I believe that there should be room in our life for the “little wiggle”. When we completely restrict ourselves the end result is never positive (unless you are a recovering addict like me!). When living a life of purposeful eating you must make decisions that fit you at that moment on that particular day. If you want to have a soda at friday night pizza then have ONE soda. Should it be diet? NO! If you are going to have it, OWN IT. Side note I have a very good friend who every time she is eating something less than perfect in front of me she always looks at me and says, “I’m owning it!” I love it! Own it girl!! Soda is supposed to have calories. Food is supposed to have calories. Calories make our body work. The sooner you except this the better off you will be. As far as I am concerned if you want a soda and you are worried about calories then I guess you will have to cut calories somewhere else. Thats right people, I hate to be the bearer of bad news… you can’t have it all!! You must be willing to sacrifice one thing for another. No healthy human being lives a life without some sacrifice. Soda is meant to be a treat just like cookies, ice cream, and cake. We have become a society that thinks we should eat what we want, when we want it. Sorry folks! That way of thinking has only made you fat and sick.
So to recap:
- An occasional soda in moderation is ok.
- Avoid “free” or diet soda at all cost.
- OWN IT, OWN IT, OWN IT
*Mike Mcleod, Southeastern antiquing magazine
