Are you looking for a way to lose abdominal fat? Patrick Friedli, MD, the medical director of Munson's Healthy Weight Center, may have one of the simplest ways to shed a few pounds: Eliminate sugary beverages from your diet. Yes, that means you should quit drinking pop.
By quitting you may see your weight go down. A nine-year study found that older adults who drank diet soda kept packing on belly fat. A piggyback study found that having a daily diet soda increases your chance of obesity by 65% during the next 10 years.
If you regularly consume one 12 oz. 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.
Plain water: 10 to 20 minutes. Simple liquids (clear juices, tea, sodas): 20 to 40 minutes. Complex liquids (smoothies, protein shakes, bone broths): 40 to 60 minutes.
No, Drinking Diet Soda Won't Poison Your Gut Bacteria, But It Could Do Harm. Your gut is teeming with bacteria. This ecosystem of microbes keeps you healthy — but when it's thrown off balance, it can lead to a variety of diseases.
Carbonation can cause a buildup of gas, leading to bloating, cramping and pain. The caffeine in soda can also increase stomach acid production, worsen episodes of diarrhea, and contribute to constipation. In addition, the sweeteners used in soft drinks can worsen IBS symptoms due to their laxative effects.
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.
If you're having a soda every day for lunch, particularly a large soda, or maybe breakfast, maybe dinner, whenever you might have a soda or several sodas, if you can cut a large soda, one of these gas station soda-sized things from your diet every day, you will lose a pound per week.
A potential culprit for that protruding belly can be diet soda or beverages with artificial sweeteners. One recent study shows a link between the high consumption of diet drinks and the increase of belly fat in older adults.
What are the risks of a water diet? When your main (or only) intake is water, your body loses crucial nutrients it needs. The short-term result is that you will lose a lot of weight, most of which will be water not fat, says Upton.
Kicking the soda addiction by “going cold turkey” does not work for everyone. While it definitely shortens the period of acclimation, this method comes with a host of withdrawal symptoms which may include irritability, fatigue, headaches, and/or mild depression.
"No surprise here, water is best. If you trade one 20-ounce soda a day for water, you'd cut out 52 pounds of sugar a year," said Calvo. That simple substitution can translate into a potential 14-pound weight loss in a year. Research shows there are other important health benefits to water.
Health Benefits of Quitting Soda
Cutting back on sweetened soda (and other sugary drinks) not only drastically reduces your intake of added sugar but can improve overall health. Research suggests that overconsumption of sugary drinks is associated with weight gain, insulin resistance, and diabetes.
Soda can be harmful to your overall health, too. Short-term effects include an increase in blood sugar and blood pressure, increased dopamine production, and dilated pupils. After the sugar high wears off, mental fogginess, lethargy, fatigue, and mood changes can follow.
Although The Food and Drug Administration believe the levels of benzene found in soda have been tested and should not be a cause for alarm, many companies may not devote the time and effort to monitor the levels. Therefore, most strict recommendations indicate that you should not drink more than one can of soda a week.
If soda cravings turn into dependency, mental and physical health issues can follow. Soda addiction, or dependence on soda, can lead to unwanted weight gain, type 2 diabetes, fatty liver disease, dental issues, weakened bones, heart disease, and depression.
Diet Soda is Just as Bad as Regular Soda
Regular soda contains a lot of sugar whereas diet coke contains artificial sweeteners like aspartame. Despite being low or zero calories, diet coke offers no nutritional value whatsoever.
In fact, drinking water during or after a meal helps how your body breaks down and processes food (digestion). Water is vital for good health. Water and other drinks help break down food so that your body can take in (absorb) the nutrients. Water also makes stool softer, which helps prevent constipation.