Nutrition Lab: Milk, soft drinks and bone strength – latimes.com.

It does seem to be true that soda drinkers have worse diets overall. In a study published this month in the Journal of the American Dietetic Assn., for example, among 170 girls followed from age 5 to 15, those who drank soda at age 5 were less likely to drink milk throughout childhood than 5-year-olds who did not drink soda. And they were more likely to consume diets lacking in calcium, fiber, vitamin D, protein, magnesium, phosphorus and potassium.

I gave up soda well over a year ago. It started when I realized that I had not gone even one day without a Diet Coke since I was in my teens. I thought to myself – what the heck is that doing to my insides and wouldn’t it be amazing to challenge myself and see if I could go for a week without any Diet Coke. A week ran into another week, then another, then it was a month and so on — I realized I had some soda in a mixed drink for my birthday and for a moment, I felt bad about it. It wasn’t diet coke, it was 7up. My perfect record had been broken. Eh, it happens.

I don’t miss it. I also think it was the start of me losing the majority of my weight. I could never figure out why I was holding on to weight in my mid section when I was eating pretty darn well.  A few months after I gave up soda, I started seeing changes. Coincidence? I think not.

Try it – even for a day or so and see how long you can go without it!