If you’re trying to live a healthier lifestyle and you are looking for simple changes you can make, cutting out soda is a great place to start. Drinking soda all of the time has a huge impact on your health, but you probably already know this. It’s no secret that it’s packed full of sugar, which isn’t good for your health, and you are likely to gain weight if you drink too much of it. But people don’t always realize just how much impact it can have and all of the changes you will notice once you stop. Here’s what happens to your body when you give up drinking soda.
You Lose Weight
This is the most obvious change that happens and it’s usually the reason that people stop in the first place. Sugar causes weight gain in a number of ways because it fills your body with empty calories and disrupts insulin levels, leading to increased fat storage in the body. The average can of soda has 9 teaspoons of sugar in it, so even if you are only drinking one soda a day, you’re still contributing to weight gain in a big way. A lot of people find that they struggle to lose weight even though their diet is healthy and it’s just down to their soda intake. As soon as you cut it out, sugar levels in your body decrease drastically, which means that your insulin levels return to normal and your body stops storing excess fat, so you lose weight.
Your Teeth Get Better
The other big problem with sugar is that it causes a lot of problems with your oral health. If you drink a lot of soda, the chances are you spend a lot of time visiting the dentist because of cavities and tooth decay. This is because the bad bacteria in your mouth feed on the sugar and grow, leading to more tooth decay. By cutting out soda and reducing your sugar intake, you can protect your teeth.
Your Skin Improves
This is one that people don’t expect to see when they cut out the soda. However, high sugar intake has a big impact on your skin because it damages collagen and elastin, which keep your skin firm and prevent wrinkles. It’s not just the sugar that you have to worry about either because a lot of sodas contain high levels of caffeine. When you drink caffeine, it dehydrates you and this leads to increased problems with dry skin if you’re drinking a lot of soda every day. The combined effect of sugar and caffeine can seriously age your skin, so you should notice a big improvement when you stop drinking soda.
You Get Smarter
Studies into the effect of drinking soda found that it can have a big impact on your brain function, leading to poor memory and lower total brain volume. They also suggest that drinking a lot of soda can increase your risk of developing Alzheimer’s in later life. But when you cut out soda, you will notice a big change in your brain function and you will be sharper and have a better memory. In other words, cutting out soda makes you smarter.
Your Liver And Kidneys Are Healthier
Your liver and kidneys serve the purpose of removing toxins from the blood and when you drink soda, you make them work overtime. Studies show that people who drink a lot of soda showed decreased liver and kidney function compared with those that didn’t. You also have an increased risk of developing kidney stones if you drink a lot of soda. Unfortunately, switching to the diet option won’t help you here either because the effects are the same either way. Continued damage to the liver and kidneys can cause some serious problems in later life, so it’s best to kick the soda now.
You Get Withdrawals
Most people don’t expect withdrawal symptoms when they stop drinking soda, which is why a lot of people find it tough to kick the habit. The thing is, sugar is incredibly addictive because it releases opioids and dopamine in our bodies, in the same way, that a lot of addictive drugs do. This creates a reward circuit in the body and makes us crave sugar, so when you take away the soda, you will get withdrawal symptoms.
Your body goes through a lot of changes when you cut out soda and if you can make it past the withdrawals, you will be so much healthier and happier.
