I don’t have many vices in my life.  I rarely drink (and if I do so it’s maybe one drink), I don’t smoke and I have never done drugs.  I do have one vice, though, and that is diet soda.  My soda of choice is Diet Pepsi.  I know I have a problem with it because every time I’ve tried to quit I can’t.  Sometimes that first sip in the morning is the best tasting thing I’ve ever had.

Now I am not so sure about drinking them anymore.  I was watching Good Morning America this morning and there was a story about how diet sodas make you fat.  Purdue University recently published a study linking artificial sweeteners to an increased likelihood for weight gain and other health problems.  The study used rats.  (As an aside I think it’s hard to say that what happens in rats will happen in humans but who am I?). 

In the simplest terms I could understand, the study found that artificial sweeteners confuse the brain and can alter the body’s metabolism.  I guess that when you eat something sweet your brain recognizes it and the fact that it is probably full of calories so it reves up your body to burn the calories.  With a product sweetened with a calorie free sweetener the body gets all ready for the calorie intake but finds nothing.  This confuses the brain and can lead to problems. 

The study could not say if any products with artificial sweeteners caused this problem or if it is only diet soda alone.  The researchers said that even having one diet soda a day can lead to problems.

I’m not sure if I believe this or not, but here it goes – I’m quitting cold turkey.  It’s just after 2:00 in the afternoon and I have not had one sip of diet soda today.  My head is killing me and I’m really wanting some but so far I’m staying strong.  I don’t want t to take the chance of having health problems because of my habit, so I figured better safe than sorry.  Even if the research comes back that this study is wrong I’ll still be better off by drinking more water.  As a parent I think that you need to try and be healthy to show a good example to your children.  What kind of message was I sending when I had a diet soda with my breakfast every day?