From the Founder: Diet Beverages

Even though I haven’t completely cut out diet beverages, I gave up soda as a New Year’s resolution 7 years ago and have stuck with it. I knew back then that soda, whether it had calories or not, it was bad for my health and appearance.

In our main feature this week, you learned some shocking information on the world of diet beverages, however, when I gave up soda I was not aware of the majority of that information. I had given it up because of the un-natural ingredients, high sugar content, staining and rotting of my teeth, and figured if I wanted something with no calories I could just drink water. I still drink diet energy drinks once or twice a month for that extra kick, and yes, I go for the diet because I too buy into the whole calorie counting mind game when I have a choice of regular or diet. Everything else I drink is completely un-sweetened or is sweetened with the best form of sweeteners (fructose, sucrose) or with an organic sweetener (cane juice, honey).

Now, some people drink diet soda, mainly colas for the caffeine high because they either do not want to drink coffee, prefer the taste over other options or do not seek that energy boost naturally. I have a close friend who tells me over and over again how she is addicted to Diet Coke and how she drinks on average 3-4 cans a day. There are so many alternatives available to get that energy boost such as green tea, guarana, apples, stretching your muscles to increase blow flow and much more.

With the surge of these alternative beverages, for the first time since its inception, the Soda Industry is seeing a significant drop in sales. This is mainly due to the increase in the wellness movement (Congratulations!) where people are more inclined to grab water or enhanced water.

Times are changing and that’s exactly why Coca Cola made over a BILLION dollar investment in Smart Water/Vitamin Water and why they are now moving towards using Stevia (which is still up for debate) in their diet beverages instead of aspartame. You are becoming more aware and educated on your health and your buying power is changing ingredients and giving us healthier options – Thank you!