I'll miss you.
Yes, it's true. Of course, I've quit before--for pregnancies, for Lent--but this time, I MEAN IT. I hope!
This summer I've been drinking a lot of Diet Coke. Since I normally drink a lot of Diet Coke, let me assure you that this summer I've been drinking A. LOT. OF. DIET. COKE. As in, I don't really wanna talk about how much.
And you know what? I feel like crap. I feel like crap so much that I've been to the doctor. My head hurts, I'm exhausted, I'm crabby, my blood pressure is inching up again, my back hurts, blah blah blah...
Lately I've been doing a little experiment to go along with a no-carb diet I'm sorta into these days...I substitute iced coffee, iced tea, or (what a concept) water for my Diet Coke at different times of the day. I do use Splenda if I feel like it, but absolutely no aspartame. And guess what--Diet Coke is making me sick. Typically I'll have a giant iced coffee out the door in the morning, then water until I'm on my way home from the pool, then iced tea. I feel fine with all of that. Then I get home and if I grab a Diet Coke--caffeine or no, it doesn't matter--BAM! Headache and sleepy. I've tried this experiment enough days now, with enough variables, that I'm sure of what's going on.
So yesterday I Googled "Diet Coke is making me sick" and "Aspartame is making me sick." And..yep, it's true; the stuff is totally poisonous. Go ahead and Google it yourself--what are you waiting for, a link? :)
You'll find lots of nasty, serious stuff--including all my symptoms, of course--and apparently aspartame has also been linked to MS and lupus-like symptoms along with a litany of other unpleasant side effects. Diet Coke contains as much as 50aspartame, and the rest of its ingredient list--featuring such delicacies as phosphoric acid and that gross artificial coloring--isn't much better! My favorite thing about aspartame, though, is that it breaks down into formaldehyde. In fact, if you don't keep your soda chilled, it will do so before you even drink the stuff--formaldehyde on the rocks, anyone?
(Of course, the FDA is completely unhelpful on this one, as they're no doubt completely bribed by Monsanto, the company that manufactures aspartame. It's always those eeeevil corporations, darn them! And guess who was the CEO of Searle, the company that originally invented aspartame before being acquired by Monsanto...Donald Rumsfeld, of course! It always comes back to the eeeevil Republicans, I tell you!)
Ahem. So anyway, today was my Day 1 without Diet Coke. I'm far from alone in this addiction--while you're Googling, check out "Diet Coke Addiction." You'll find posts like "Day 347 without Diet Coke." (I promise I won't be posting about Diet Coke for that long!) I do believe this is a real, serious thing, and that someday my kids will view my soda habit the way I view my parents' former nicotine addiction. So please pray for me; I do need to be around for my kids and, I'm hoping, grandchildren. And no--I don't think the formaldehyde will be much help in preserving me for them.
And you know what? I feel much better today already!
