I used to drink quite a bit of soda, probably two sodas a day. I’d try to keep it to one, but mostly I’d find myself drinking two, if not three, a day.

About a month ago it occurred to me that I should start being a little bit more conscious of the things I put into my body. I wanted to be healthier and I knew that drinking a lot of caffeine and sugar filled soda couldn’t be good for me. So, I decided to give it up. No more soda. I quit cold turkey.

So far I’ve been doing pretty good. I’ve only had about 7 sodas in the past 25 days. At the rate I was going before, I probably would have had about 60 sodas by now. So, I’m pretty proud of myself.

Over the course of this excursion I have decided to see what all the fuss is about and why cutting back on my soda intake is such a great thing. I definitely feel a bit healthier, but I wanted to know some hard facts about why this is benefiting me. I’ve found a couple tid bits about soda and it’s kinda made me go ‘huh, I’m kinda glad I’m doing this’.

Here are the tid bits I’ve found. I hope they don’t bum you out on soda too much:

- A 12 ounce can of soda contains about 150 calories and between 40 and 50 grams of sugar. Drinking one can a day without cutting back on other calories, can lead to a 15-pound weight gain in only one year.

- The odds of becoming obese increase 1.6 times for each additional sugar-sweetened beverage consumed each day.

- Sugar-sweetened sodas have a high glycemic value, triggering an immediate spike in blood sugar levels that may boost diabetes risk.

- Caffeine is a diuretic. For every 150 milligrams of caffeine approximately five milligrams of calcium is excreted out in the urine. This loss can add up and could be detrimental for the body’s bones.

- Soda takes away more water than it replaces in the body. Processing the high levels of sugar in soft drinks steals a considerable amount of water from the body. To replace the water stolen by soft drinks, you need to drink 8-12 glasses of water for every one glass of soda that you drink.

- The sugars and acids in soft drinks easily dissolve tooth enamel. A human tooth placed in a soft drink will soften and start to dissolve in a short period of time.

- Heavy soft drink consumption can interfere with the body's metabolization of iron and diminish nerve impulse transmission.

- Soft drinks are high in phosphorous and phosphoric acid, they infiltrate bodily fluids and corrode stomach linings, upset the alkaline-acid balance of the kidneys, and eat away at the body’s liver.

Nice huh?