Now, of course I know better than to drink regular, full-sugared soda. Believe it or not, I actually prefer the taste of diet soda now - the regular stuff's too sweet. But I sure do love the feeling of the acid burning its cold path down my esophagus. Mmmmmm, heaven.
So, one day my chiropractor tells me that the body was never meant to process aspartame. It can make people sick. What? I had heard the theories about sugar substitutes increasing cravings and actually causing obesity instead of helping people lose weight, like the marketing ads claim. But this was new.
So, he tells me, maybe my chronic back, neck, hip, and elbow pain that I've had since I was 14 going on 94 isn't caused by spinal misalignment. Maybe, just maybe, my body is rejecting aspartame and this is how it manifests itself. Unlikely, he says, but maybe. So why not give it a try? Give up soda for a week and report back to me.
Huh? Give up soda for a week? No way!! It's my life blood, my friend, my companion (yes, I'm a loser). I resist. The next week, he asks again. I resist. He asks. I resist. We dance for a few months as I run out of excuses. Boy, he's persistent! I relent. But I don't give up soda. I give up aspartame (win/win, I think).
Turns out he was right. Not about my chronic pain being caused by aspartame, but about my chronic sinus headaches. After four days of no aspartame, I awake head-pain free for the first time in {months, years?} a long time. This trend continues. I am happy. But unconvinced, of course. I must test the theory. I tested the theory three times (I'm slow to catch on). Long story short, he really was right. My aspartame habit was causing me pain, and lots of it.
So I stopped drinking diet soda. But that meant I was drinking regular soda instead. Bad juju. My soda intake ranged from 24-60 ounces a day. That could end up with me gaining anywhere from 30 - 80 pounds in a year! Since I already weigh more than I can admit to anyone (that's a goal for another week), the thought has me desperate.
I try substituting things with Splenda. Yummy! But those drinks tear my stomach apart. I try stevia, but it is bitter. I need a solution that doesn't involve giving up my beloved soda. But none was to be found. I continued to drink sodas with Splenda and deal with the pain (smart, aren't I?).
Last week, as my husband and I are doing some grocery shopping, he notices that my soda is gone from the shelves. All of them. Uh oh. I'm in trouble now. I take it as a sign that my world must change, and start to contemplate my choices. There are few.
I consider living my life once again in a chronic sinus headache-induced pain fog. Ummm, no. How about drinking coffee instead? Yuck! I hate coffee, it tears my stomach apart (worse than Splenda), but the worst part...have you ever smelled coffee breath? I could not do that to my friends and colleagues. How about tea? Tea has caffeine, it doesn't tear my stomach apart, and I don't think it causes horse apple breath. But I just don't like it. I'd been trying to add it to my daily routine for the past year, and I dreaded every sip. Even sweetened teas weren't that great. I was giving up hope, and was about to give up soda, caffeine and all, cold turkey (just like when I quit smoking! Don't know that my husband could take another one of those episodes...), when I found my answer.
Coming up: Teavana
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