Consumer Health Forums

Hello everyone, this is my first try. I hope this is in the right place.

I wondered if was possible to be addicted to a certain soft drink, even though non of the ingredients were classed as being addictive?

The reason I ask is that I'm starting to think I might actually be addicted. I do drink quite a lot, although not gallons of it, but certainly a couple or even three cans every day.

I tell myself that because it has zero calories and no sugar, it probably can't harm me, but I do feel a need to drink it now, rather than just because I'd like a drink.

Not sure if I'm explaining myself very well here - does it make any sense?

Not sure about the addiction part, but as well as not hydrating your body, the acids in cola (average pH level of between 3 and 4) can rot your teeth and can cause your stomach acid to become, well, over-acidic. This means that too much can be very bad for you.

All colas can also colour your teeth a very distinctive dark-yellow colour, as can tea and coffee if you over-indulge, so be warned.

Hey Pepsi :-)

Those drinks are still full of caffeine so it's probably that which is causing your feeling of addition.

You don't seem to be drinking too much of it, but if you want to stop then why not try slowing down at first, maybe just two can per day at the most, and then a few weeks later just one and so on.

If you stop all at once, it might give you headaches, but you could try!

Hope you give it a shot
DG

It may be better to slowly come off the Caffiene drink by having a Caffiene free version. You could try having a Caffiene Cola first, the next one Caffiene Free, the next with Caffiene and so on. This should reduce your Caffiene intake considerably.

Once the Caffiene level comes down, the cold turkey will be easier to manage when you do finally stop.

The other thing is that the other ingredients like Aspartame is not very good for your mental state, if taken in large quantities. The major soft drink companies are working hard to remove Aspartame from their drinks, but it will take time.

Aspartame dissolves into solution and can therefore travel throughout the body and deposit within any tissue. The body digests Aspartame unlike Saccharin, which does not break down within us.

Aspartame changes the ratio of amino acids in the blood, blocking or lowering the levels of serotonin, tyrosine, dopamine, norepinephrine, and adrenaline. Therefore, it is typical that Aspartame symptoms cannot be detected in lab tests and on x-rays.

The 1976 Groliers encyclopedia states cancer cannot live without phenylalanine. Aspartame contains 50% phenylalanine. Phenylalanine is one of the essential amino acids found in proteins.

Get off the stuff A.S.A.P, and you will find yourself feeling a lot better quite quickly.

i was addicted to coke cola very bad drank 2 liters a day, so now i have a coke belly, and taking sterroids for my asthma didnt help as that can make you chubby as a side effect, but to the point i think cola or any fizzy drink can turn into a addiction well it did for me. But now iv been off cola for 5 months and now when i taste it today i cant stand the taste so i dont drink it now.
just be careful it can lead to weight gain.

Fizzy drinks are also associated with leaching calcium from the bones i hear over time although women are more prone to this than men it's still another reason to avoid the stuff and have it only as a treat at best.
I used to drink 2 litres a day when i was a teenager. Still like it now but have it rarely so remember the buzz from it but also how quickly i got used to not having it after a few days.

__________________
34yrs old - 6'2 14st 20% body fat [] Target: 15st 11% Body Fat 300Ib bench press and 5 mile run twice a week by Christmas 2008!

Any advise I give is based purely on my own experience or opinion. It should not be solely relied upon as an authoritative statement of the law or as a source of medical advice. Please seek professional advice if in doubt. If this post has helped please click the +rep button.