Soda Addict?
Crush your soda habit with a sparkling, fruity "Cherry On Top."
Giggle:
That Guy and Deary are touring The White House when he sees a soda headed to The Oval Office. To save Trump and support MAHA he grabs the soda, spilling it all over the floor. Meanwhile Trump is pushing the soda button again. And RFK, Jr. tries to bring him water and a water button.
Gab:
I stopped drinking sodas 25 years ago. It was not easy to break a habit that I’d had for my whole life. As a small child, living on my grandparents’ farm in Blount County, there were not sodas in the house. We drank water from the well and iced tea made of it, and raw milk from our cows. Yet once a week the peddler would drive up the country road and stop at the end of the long, dirt driveway. There I stood with my nickel and dime for a Zero candy bar and a bottle of Coca Cola. Not understanding science, I thought if I poured my coke on ice, it made twice as much. So, I would eat half my candy bar and drink half my Coke. And I would save the other for dessert after supper.
After moving off the farm to Oneonta at age seven, I had easier access to the sodas I craved. My mother’s house always had soda in the pantry. And after school when I arrived at her office. Her secretary, Pauline always had a Dr. Pepper on her desk. I thought she was weird for drinking Dr. Pepper when she could have a coke. Every afternoon I grabbed change from the drawer and walked across the street to the Hitt’s store where sodas were displayed in a cooler, alongside the candy bars and potato chips at the counter. As a teen I made the switch to Dr. Pepper, due to Pauline’s influence. I was the only one drinking it. But soon my peers tried it as did my aunt, who became addicted to it too. Later most of us switched to Diet Dr. Pepper. And I came back to the diet version of Coke because it was always around the house.
And as an adult in 1985 hearing news that Coke was changing its 99-year-old recipe to a sweeter version, New Coke, I bought out The Pig of all the Coke they had. I was not the only one unhappy with this new soda. There was public backlash and even protests. This genius marketing idea only lasted 79 days before the original formula was brought back. And I made it through this dry period with my stash of Coke. Ninety-nine years earlier, in 1886, the original Coca-Cola contained a small amount of cocaine, derived from coca leaves and caffeine from kola nuts, acting as a stimulant. The cocaine was removed in the early 1900s.
Today, I am shocked seeing people still drinking sodas. For years the CDC has attributed sugary drinks to many health problems: weight gain, obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, cavities, and gout, a type of arthritis. Even worse are sodas with corn syrup rather than cane sugar. These sodas are sold in the U.S., which is why some people drink sodas from Mexico. More recently in a March 2026 study, Ohio State discovered a new danger of sodas, liver disease. It found that sodas may be as damaging to the liver as alcohol. If I must choose Champagne or soda, there is no contest.
If you think diet sodas are the solution, I did too. In the 1990s as a teacher, Diet Cokes were always on my desk. When I connected the dots of not being able to fall asleep at night with the large diet soda I had during my 1:00 break, I stopped drinking in the afternoons. It was after I moved and changed careers that I began to realize these diet drinks were not helping any diet I tried. Cleveland Clinic reports that diet sodas trick the brain’s sweet sensing reward center, making you crave sugar. And the artificial sweeteners are addictive, as is sugar. This is not health advice. Do your own research.
Gastro:
After drinking sodas all my life, the carbonation was what I miss the most. Follow my lead in ditching sodas and diet sodas with these tips. And get my recipe for Jan’s Fruit Fizzy.
· Drink sparkling water but avoid waters with citric acid.
· Add fruit juice or muddled fruit to sparkling water.
· Add citrus juices to sparkling water.
· Add fruit to sparkling water.
· Add cucumber to sparkling water.
· Drink Kombucha instead.
· Drink coconut water.
· Find alternative for caffeine.
I developed a sparkling drink that substitutes well for soda and is good for your kidneys and eyes. View Cherry On Top recipe at Clean Cooking.