After years of hearing about how bad fizzy drinks are for our health, Erica Crompton decided enough was enough. Photo / Getty Images
After years of hearing about how bad fizzy drinks are for our health, Erica Crompton decided enough was enough. Photo / Getty Images
Opinion by Erica Crompton
Erica Crompton is a mental health keynote speaker, activist, freelance journalist and author.
THREE KEY FACTS
Erica Crompton quit drinking up to 14 bottles of soft drinks weekly due to health concerns.
Experts warn artificial sweeteners in diet soft drinks may disrupt gut bacteria and cause sugar cravings.
Crompton lost over 2kg and improved her energy levels after switching to electrolytes and sparkling water.
After drinking up to 14 large bottles of soft drinks a week, Erica Crompton decided to quit them for good.
You might expect that someone who works part-time would enjoy a leisurely shop around a quiet Aldi at 11am early in the week, but that’s never been the case for me. Mondays are my heavy lifting day, when I stock up on fizzy pop so I don’t panic if I run out midweek. I usually aim to buy 14 two-litre bottles to satisfy my thirst.
I can’t imagine life without fizzy pop. I’ve been drinking it for over a decade, and my habit has become worse over time. I am never without a large bottle – in my bag or by my bedside at night. All this is despite almost everyone telling me how bad it is. Last time I did a fizzy drinks run, a lady in front of me at the cashier tapped me on the shoulder and jokily said: “I stopped drinking diet coke when I heard you can clean toilets with it!”
Rather more authoritatively, a recent Telegraph report revealed that diet drinks like mine can be just as bad for our health, despite being the sugar-free option. Experts suggest artificial sweeteners could disrupt the balance of healthy bacteria in the gut, creating sugar cravings. Further reports stated that the artificial sweeteners used in soft drinks, such as aspartame and sucralose, may also, in some cases, prompt insulin resistance over time and, according to a recent study, are associated with one in 10 type 2 diabetes cases.
My own medical advice has piled up recently. It was actually my GP’s and dentist’s advice to switch to water, two months ago. When I complained how thirsty I was, my GP booked me for blood tests for diabetes, which came back as negative. Expert advice to “drink more water” is easier said than done, I have found, and not everyone enjoys the blandness of water.
I’m not alone in this. According to data from Statista, in the UK in 2023 approximately 15 billion litres of soft drinks were consumed. Carbonated soft drinks have become an integral part of modern culture. In 2023, they held the largest share of the UK’s non-alcoholic beverages market, with 38.6%.
Soft drinks are loaded with sugar, caffeine, sweeteners and other additives. Photo / 123rf
A GP with a mental health specialism, Dr Hana Patel, believes diet fizzy drinks are so addictive due to their high caffeine content, as well as sweeteners and additives.
“Like alcohol and drugs, caffeine also triggers the release of the feel-good hormone dopamine in the brain, making you crave more of it,” she says.
Dentist Dr Hanna Kinsella says that to protect teeth it’s best to keep fizzy drinks to a minimum – as drinking too much can weaken tooth enamel.
“Drinking a lot can gradually weaken your teeth, and occasionally the damage could be bad enough to need treatments like fillings or crowns,” says Kinsella. “The more enamel you lose, the more at risk your teeth are for bigger dental problems down the road.”
Another worrying trend is the mental health crisis in the UK, with growing numbers of adults, children and young people prescribed psychiatric medication, like mine, for schizophrenia, or for others, depression or bipolar. One unfortunate side effect of these life-saving drugs is that they can make us crave fizzy drinks, says psychiatrist Dr Harold Hong of New Waters Recovery.
“Certain psychiatric medications, like antidepressants, antipsychotics or mood stabilisers, can cause dry mouth, making sodas more appealing because they help alleviate that discomfort. The carbonation stimulates saliva production, which can temporarily soothe dry mouth.” He also says medications like mine, an antipsychotic, affect energy levels and that taste perception might make sweet, fizzy drinks seem more satisfying, especially if we’re looking for a quick pick-me-up from caffeine or sugar.
How I overcame my fizzy drink habit
Six weeks ago, the medical advice I’d received finally outweighed the cravings, and I decided enough was enough. My friend and mentor, Barney, who knows about health, suggested switching fizzy diet drinks for electrolytes – hydration sachets and tablets that also contain vitamins and minerals. I ordered £40 ($87) worth of different flavoured electrolytes from Amazon and they arrived the next day. I liked the Phizz ones, well, because they sparkle. During my next weekly shop I just bought 12 two-litre bottles of sparkling water to add the electrolytes to. A friend also suggested Dash cans – sparkling water with a twist of fruit and no added sugar or sweeteners. The peach one is lovely. It’s expensive, but a treat. I make my own sometimes, adding a small amount of orange juice to my sparkling water.
Six weeks passed and I noticed my weight was dropping by quite a few pounds. This, says dietitian Sarah Abdula from The Slimming Clinic, could be because my diet and zero-sugar fizzy drinks are packed full of chemicals and sweeteners that can lead us to put on weight.
“Original cola contains 139 calories per can, versus diet cola which contains one calorie, which is why a high proportion of the population have switched on to diet cola,” says Abdula. Yet our brain reacts to artificial sweeteners in a similar way to standard sugar, which means that even when we drink a diet fizzy drink, our brain signals to our pancreas to produce insulin, which then tells our cells to store sugar as fat, she explains.
Both full-sugar and diet soft drinks are bad for our health, experts say. Photo / 123rf
Research also suggests that any carbonated drinks – original or diet – can cause the body to release more ghrelin. This is a hormone that can make you feel more hungry. One study found that drinking diet drinks signalled reward activity in the brain, leading to people eating larger portions of food after consuming sucralose drinks.
The weight loss alone – 2.3kg and counting – has been enough to feel that quitting these drinks was a smart move. I am still having a glass of fizzy pop with meals out and takeaways, but I’m keeping it as an occasional treat, like a glass of wine or a pint. But, overall, I have a little more energy to stay awake longer, which is something I’ve not been able to do for many years, due to the sedative effects of my long-term-use antipsychotics.
Dr Patel suggests tap water works as an alternative to soda, too. “Water is good, milk is nutritious and kind to teeth. A small amount of pure juice or a smoothie, as part of a meal, once a day is also fine. It contains vitamins and minerals. The smoothies also have a little fibre too. Large or frequent servings will provide too much sugar.” Dr Hong agrees and suggests herbal teas as another excellent resource for quenching thirst.
Personally, I still find tap water and herbal tea bland. But I’ve come to see myself, drinking at my coffee table, as an alchemist or mixologist, making concoctions as I mix different sachets and tablets. I try small amounts of pure fruit juices diluted with sparkling water, or for treats, with the money I have been saving I give the latest new health drink a try. It’s been a fun step to becoming healthier, while saving and losing weight at the same time.
