Frondorf got hooked on Diet Coke about 20 years ago when he was diagnosed with diabetes, which forced him to replace his sugary drinks with other alternatives.
“The regular Coke was my soda of choice, but it wasn’t the only thing I drank,” he said. “Once I settled on the Diet Coke, it’s just gotten more over the years to the point where that’s all I drink now.”
Frondorf has tried cutting back and quitting several times. But it only lasts a few days before he caves in, again.
He's not alone. More than 60% of American adults report drinking sugar-sweetened beverages one or more times daily, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Recently, some USA TODAY journalists also learned firsthand how hard it can be to break soda habits when they tried to quit cold turkey.
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These drinks hijack the brain’s reward and motivation system and rewire the body’s metabolism, food and nutrition experts say, which can lead consumers to crave them more. Soda lovers are also trained to associate these products with certain events and moments due to decades of intense product marketing by beverage companies, said Ashley Gearhardt, professor of psychology at the University of Michigan, where she runs the Food and Addiction Science and Treatment lab.
“They want to inundate every single domain of your life,” she said. “Just like a chain smoker is dosing themselves with nicotine all day, you’re dosing yourself with a naturally delivered sweet taste day after day because whenever it’s not there, a part of you feels slightly depressed and slightly dissatisfied.”
Read the complete article in USA TODAY
