By Ryback Reeves

Time and time again I get emails and DMs from people asking me how they can cut out sodas from their life. They either have a serious addiction to sugar-filled sodas that are destroying their health with a massive abundance of sugar or corn syrup, or they’re consuming ridiculous amounts of artificial sweeteners or colors like aspartame or sucralose. You see, when it comes to obsessions, the best thing I’ve found in life in dropping a bad obsession is finding a good obsession to replace it, and this situation calls for the same, as many have an attachment to flavors and carbonation.

I was one of those people who drank his fair share of sugar-laden sodas as a child, before getting the urge to try my parents' Diet Pepsi in the refrigerator. I remember not being totally sure of the taste at first, but the more I seemed to drink the better it seemed to get, where without even knowing it, my addiction to the sweet poison began. It would continue well into my teens and early twenties when I was consuming massive amounts of diet sodas, energy drinks and supplements. I felt like complete shit most times and would go from high energy to zero energy, which I’ve documented in other blogs just how bad the symptoms were that I had, including waking up like a zombie despite 7-8 hours of sleep, blurry vision, blackouts and very bad sugar cravings despite not eating a high sugar diet in my twenties.

I came to a point where I knew I had to make some serious changes and chose to cut out all artificial sweeteners. Now, when I did this, I was not aware there was a replacement for diet sodas etc., so I pretty much just went cold turkey, which I will admit wasn’t easy. It took me months to really fully shift away and in that time would grab a diet soda at a fast food spot, get a headache almost instantly after consuming, and just get more reaffirmed that I was doing the right thing. Eventually, though, I came across this soda called Zevia. Zevia is a zero calorie soda sweetened with Stevia but with no artificial sweeteners or colors. The first time I tried this I knew I had found the perfect drink to give me that soda taste and carbonation without all the other junk. I’ve been a major advocate of them ever since, even working with them for a period on my original podcast years ago. They have every flavor you could want, including their versions of Coke, Dr. Pepper, Mt Dew etc. along with nine others for a total of twelve flavors. These days, I will drink one every day or every other day, and find them to be a refreshing alternative or great for later in the evening when I don’t want any calories, but want something with some flavor and carbonation. There’s enough things in this world though that are bad for us, so do we really need sodas and diet sodas adding to that list? Next time you’re in the grocery store, grab a six-pack or a single can in the cold beverage section and see if you love them as much as I do.