HOW BAD IS DRINKING SODA, REALLY?

Soda is only as bad as YOU let it affect you.

habitual

Habitual, or as I like to call it, the crack pipe.

To quote a friend of mine "High CO2 = Low VO2"

former addict: up to 6 diet cokes a day

now: 0

I discovered all that caffeine and high mileage is not a good mix.

5-6 Dr. Peppers a day and an occasional other soft drink. Maybe habitual. When running, OK. When not running, watch out penguin.

"You're only as healthy as you feel."

wow impressive carbonated beverage consumption. I'm addicted to diet sprite myself, but I hold it back to one a day... I guess that's still habitual. No coffee though, for me.

Other than the well-known rotting effects, soda apparently messes up the body's PH and you'll need many glasses of water to balance it. It's better not to imbibe in too many soda (habituals), but like the rest of us I drink an occasional Coke. But put a random tooth and an ounce of raw hamburger in a glass of Coke and they will nearly dissolve overnight. Now I only drink sodas with a solid meal, to give my exposed stomach lining a little cushion.

Soda does have its uses. Coke is great for cleaning off corroded battery cables (which means you need a new cable and/or battery), and if you have dirty laundry (i.e., when I work on the car or do construction work) the stuff is amazing. Put one can of Coke in the wash with the normal amount of soap and all the stains that would normally never come out magically disappear. The color doesn't get ruined, unless it's permanent press-type clothes.

Carbonation... acidic acid... an array chemicals capable of "cleaning off corroded battery cables"... Not stuff we, as Americans should all be drinking in ridiculous qualities. Stop being an ignorant, helpless consumer and have some will power. We are "athletes" in theory at least, so stop drinking that garbage, it could only help you.

A little carbonic acid never hurt anyone, bluesclue. By the way, the digestive juices in your stomach are at least as acidic as a soda- pH ~2-3? As long as you're not sucking down a 6-pack per day your stomach lining can probably handle it. Also, may I have your consent to use the term "acidic acid" in my next show. I am Mr. Wizard is who I am. Peace.

I've never noticed the deleterious effects of 2 or 3 diet Dr. Thunder's most summer evenings. The only real problem is that i think it dehydrates you rather than hydrating you. Also, all the aspartame, if consumed in massive amounts all the time, will eventually rot your brain!

I think I meant "citric acid" but "acidic acid" you cannot use because it's trademark pending, for use in my own show.

I am a blue dog, science isn't exactly my forte.

Someone said this before, but I will again - what does soda DO for you? How does it HELP your running? It doesn't.

With the non-diet sodas, it isn't just the sugar you need to be wary of. Many, including JEH's Dr. Pepper contain caffeine, and caffeine does many things:

1) It is a stimulant and habit forming (withdrawl includes headaches - sometimes severe)

2) It is a vasodialator (makes your vessels dialate). Actually for a runner this might not be that bad, except that your body gets used to this and is one of the reason you get a headache if you discontinue consumption.

3) Caffeine is a diuretic. Taken in large quantitites it can dehydrate you (a cup of coffee has about three times the caffeine of the average 12 oz. cola).

Then, of course, are the studies that show that soda consumption contributes to bone density loss. Perhaps you aren't worried about this in your 20s, but someday you will be 80, and who wants to break a hip every time they fall?

So, for me personally I have a soda perhaps one a week or even less. I don't like to take medication of any kind unless I need it, and I think of caffeine the same way. Besides, for me, if I drank 5 Dr. Peppers a day at 170 calories each, I'd be 200 pounds before I knew it. Diet Dr. Pepper is pretty good though. When I can find it I will go for the Caffeine free Diet Dr. Pepper.

so many threads on this board eventually bring up "what the kenyans do," so i'lll do it for this one. they drink soda like crazy. this past summer i lived with a bunch of kenyan road whores, and those guys bought 4 things in large quantities - corn meal, rice, milk, and generic sodas. i would guess some of them were at the 3-4 cans a day level. they were a bit perplexed that i didn't drink soda - unless it was free at races. again, i'm not saying that we have to mimick what they do, but soda doesn't seem to be hurting them too much. another thing i noticed was a couple of them taking playstations to kenya - maybe the end is near.

mzungu

The most evil ingredient in sodas is phosphoric acid. This is used as a preservative but, inside the body it leaches calcium from your cells and bones. For runners, this means more muscle cramping, more delayed onset muscle soreness, lengthened recovery times, and stress fractures.

I hear you guys, but I guess I am an addict. But, I refuse to be ruled!!! So, you guys should be pleased to know that I've decided to cut it down to 3/day until Sunday at least!

JEH,

You know I would never slam you, but I'm glad to see you are dropping your intake. I quit drinking caffinated sodas for the very reason you just mentioned - I refused to be ruled! I didn't like being at a time of the day when I needed a soda to ward off the headaches but was stuck somewhere where I couldn't get one. I broke the chains that held me and now I am free. Free at last. Free at last. Thank God almighty I am free at last! Ok, a bit over the top I know.

If you do decide to basically not drink the stuff (like I decided several years ago) be aware that even if you get it down to 1 a day and then want to quit you will have headaches for a few days afterward - just take Tylenol to treat the headaches, drink a lot of water, and in a few days you've shaken that monkey off your back.

Also, as far as the running goes, I can't help but think that it might help you.

...my precious... me need my precious... come back to me...