Soda is certainly not an ideal drink from a health perspective as it has no nutritional value and is high in sugar, sodium, and caffeine; but on the bright side, if you really love drinking it, you don’t have to give it up entirely; you can still enjoy one or two a week, but don’t make it a habit to drink more!

Soda effects on health
– Drinking one or more daily sodas can cause you to develop type 2 diabetes.
– The fructose that is added in a concentrated amount in soft drinks can induce a hormonal response in the body which leads to weight gain.
– Light-colored soft drinks, whether diet or regular, can aggressively erode your teeth’s enamel.
– Children who drink sweetened beverages tend to drink less milk and end up becoming obese.

Calories in soda
A 350ml can of non-diet soda contains around 150 calories (the equivalent of 10 teaspoons of sugar). So if you’re drinking 3 sodas a day, you are accounting for 450 of your calorie expenditure! This means that if you switch to drinking no-calorie beverages you would be saving approximately 3,150 calories every week, the equivalent of 210 teaspoons of sugar! Why waste your calories on something that has zero nutritional value?

Regular Soda or Diet Soda
People think that diet sodas are worse than regular ones because they are artificially sweetened; but they seem to forget that regular soda is filled with chemicals and sugar, which aren’t that healthy at all. So if you’re worried about additives, it’s best to stay away from it altogether, but if you do enjoy drinking it, it’s better to go for the diet one and avoid the empty calories from regular soda. Remember one thing though, drinking diet soda will make you crave more sugar which could result in you eating more carbs and sweets!

Christelle Bedrossian
Dietitian-Nutritionist
Beirut, Lebanon