Girls Prefer Soda: But Why?

Family influences playe a role, were there any cola drinkers in the family? We all know how addictive caffeine is! Sugar causes cravings, even artificial sugar is preceived by the system as sweet as sugar. Refreshing always hits the spot, who likes a warm flat drink? Just as some people love the hot tasting foods, cola drinkers love the bite in the cola. I've been in research participations where "the bite" response was an important factor. Anyway, the body naturally craves what it needs, such as water, but we preceive it as wanting our favorite drink when all it really wants is water. I think if the water drinking would increase the cola thirst would decrease some. What about the old wives tale, sugar before dinner will ruin your appetite? Cola is something to reach for to appease the hunger feeling at a particular time. It's like our morning cup of coffee. And the withdraw symptoms, like lethargic and headaches are not welcome. The cola commercials are pretty kool and somewhat influencial also. Peer pressure? Everybody's doing it and my parents allow us to. Habits are always a comfort zone and very hard to break.

I know about the drinking diet coke instead of food thing. When I was a teen with eating issues, I'd have a can of diet coke for lunch, instead of food. The bubbles fill you up and the caffeine keeps you going with no food. Eventually I got down to 89lb from eating one tiny meal every other day (besides the diet coke).

My niece drinks Diet Coke because her mother does (mom drinks about 3 liters a day). At around age 5 or 6, my niece began drinking it because Mommy did. Now she drinks it because she's accustomed to the taste, and that's her preferred beverage.

Hmm, yeah...all my school friends drank soda back when I was at school...popular b/c the soda machines were everywhere and you could buy a can for 50 cents. I started drinking it in the 5th grade, before that it had been like a "treat." I only started with diet my freshman year of high school. It tastes good to me, and ironically, drinking WATER gives me acid reflux (years of bulimia could be to blame). So I prefer the "kick" of carbonation...
and there certainly is heavy emphasis in commercials on how cool it is to drink soda. Like "light it up" for diet Coke, or those new Diet Dr. Pepper ads..."Decadent", "nothing diet about it." Hmm right!

Just an observation or two:

One thing I (and others) have noticed about diet pop consumption: a lot of the habits are similar to smokers' habits (strangely enough, my guy friends smoke and my girl friends all drink diet sodas (I'm 21, they range around there)). We have our brands (like smokers), mine is Diet Dr Pepper, my mom's is Diet Coke, my stepmom's is DCoke with Lime, and my college roommate would stab someone for Mr Pibb (and my Peppers, despite their advanced degrees, were completely unacceptable). Also there's the caffeine high, which for many contributes to alertness and helps with headaches (at least in the short term, like smoking alleviates stress short-term). It's also something to do with your hands, mouth, and stomach other than eat (which, most of the girls I know have been on a 'diet' of some sort of another since they were 12 (not healthy, but factual)).

Other than the 'Got Milk' ads (which aren't so much persuasive as iconic) there is no cultural message that milk is a preferred or even acceptable drink after elementary school and those little 'house' cartons.

I can't believe that the mother in the comment about the niece even let her daughter have soda! What is a 5 or 6 year-old doing drinking high-fat soda? What's wrong with juice, milk, and water?

in response to the above comment: high energy, not high fat soda.

my sister's (22) habits are the same as those of the author's roommates. she's very attached to coca-cola, to the point that there are frequent arguments in the household as to the constant need to procure more. she drinks several litres a day, and won't leave the house without a bottle packed and money to buy more. other members of my family are similarly attached, to a lesser extreme, including an adolescent boy.

i don't understand their attachment myself, whether it is the effect of advertising and that coke is 'cool' - when from my point of view, the people who HAVE to be seen with a bottle or can of coke in their hands are far from 'cool'.

Has anyone heard of that new milk that's out I can't remember what it's called but it's aimed for children it combines carbonation with flavored milk which would sounds gross to adults but kids are loving it now if it would only be sold where it's easy to get. At least kids could drink something they like that's good for them and has the carbonation they like!!! Anything is better than letting our kids drink soda all the time when americans waistlines just keep getting bigger

If the milk is flavored, isn't it like drinking a milky soda? But yeah, kids like stuff like the New York Egg Cream (carbonated chocolate milk). I still think it would be best if they drank sparkling water for the fizz and stayed away from all that sugar and even worse on some sodas, caffeine (it stunts your growth).

I don't know that the milky sodas are that great for kids...I looked up the NY Egg Cream and that has 200 cals per bottle! Sure there might be some calcium, but "flavored" means it has sugar or sweeteners, that is where the extra calories are coming from.
Goodness, maybe for a treat, but milk doesn't taste that bad... I love 2 percent. My parents made me drink skim as a kid but 2 percent has such a rich taste and it's only like 120 calories.
Calcium is so important for growing bones. and yeah, caffeine will stunt your growth.

I drink the fat-free milk (60 calories) but if you find the right brands, it is very tasty by itself. I love 1%, but I also love other sources of fat better (nuts, oil on salads) to be able to save fat for milk.

200 calories is just what I expected with all that sugar. Pretty bad.

i regularly drink 3 litres of DIET soda a day. It is an addiction. i've been drinking diet soda for years and years, but before i developed an ED, it was diet or regular, but still 3 litres a day. i havent touched a non diet soda in 5 years. Diet soda simply tastes better then water, even if water is flavoured with lemon or lime...i prefer diet soda over carbonated water because of the taste and the caffine....but i love the carbonation! i dont drink milk for two reasons, number one, milk has calories. i dont waste my calories on liquids. Number two, i'm lactose intolerant, and something like one out of three people has some degree of lactose intolerance, which would at least partially explain why milk isnt as popular? If you drank three litres of milk a day, lactose intolerence or not, you'd get sick, i bet. Water is just too boring, juice has calories (and no bubbles)

Thats why i choose to drink ridiculous amounts of diet soda. i've tried to give up my diet soda before, but its much harder then quitting smoking (and i've quit smoking!)

ok, I know that it is very important to drink water. But, I am also worried that i will gain water weight or retain it..can anyone help me with this problem? oh, and also is carbonated water better for you rather than regular diet sodas? (diet pepsi, diet coke, diet sierra mist) please e-mail me be back with an answer. thanks!

Samantha: Retaining water is a sign that you're dehydrated. You have to understand our body is conditioned to endure drought or famine quite gracefully. If you don't drink enough water, your body will keep a store of it in case of an emergency. If you give it enough water, it will drop that retained water. You may gain water weight, but it will be evenly distributed among your cells, and you will lose the bloating.

Just try drinking pure water for a while. After about 3 weeks of that, I didn't want soda anymore.

Hello, I have been drinking regular soda since I was a kid and now I'm 40. I seem to have all kinds of body aches for no apparent reason. I do have a buldging disc in my upper middle shoulder area but according to my pain doc, it is not believed that this problem is causing my body discomfort. I have recently been advised by a friend to study the effects of soda. I now drink about 3-5 12oz cans of pepsi or orange soda a day. I used to drink at least a 3 liter of pepsi a day with no problem. My ? is this, is it possible or more than probable that my soda drinking is adding to my discomfort? Any advise on how to quit and what w/d symptoms I should look forward to? Thank you so much for any help.

Here is a poll you can vote on: How old should a child be before they are allowed to drink coke? http://www.apopularitycontest.com/display_poll.php?ID=3109

Personally I am perfectly happy with my 8 year old drinking soda if it is at a party or something of that sort. Drinking soda at home she is not allowed though. I found the easiest way to get her to not drink soda was to not drink it myself. No soda at home, no soda to drink.

For Donnie:

I know this is probably something you don't want to hear, but it will help (may take awhile though). Participate in a strength building yoga, where you work on gathering strength in an elongated position. This will greatly help your bulging disc. Seriously, try it. You may have to try a couple of different instructors until you find the right one for you.

Also, eliminate the soda and add more Omega-3 in your diet. Recent research is supporting the claims (ok, yea we know six months from now research will say the opposite) that Omega 3 acts as an anti-inflammatory.

I drank sodas everyday from five years old until college. I gave it up mostly because of $. Instead, I drank Kool-Aide (i know, still sugar water) and after college I even gave up that. Now i drink milk, water and the occassional glass of wine.