Just did the Healthy Body Calculator®. Didn’t tell me anything I didn’t already know. My question is I’m overweight, I don’t eat too much. I try to buy everything lite. My big problem is cola. I am totally addicted and get headaches when I try to avoid it. I’ve been told to try diet pop, but I can’t stand the taste of the sweeteners so that’s out. Someone told me to get some caffeine pills. Is this an option I should try or do you have another suggestion?
You are experiencing caffeinism if you get headaches when you reduce your intake of caffeine containing beverages. First I would recommend you gradually reduce your intake of cola based carbonated drinks if you want to lose weight. All sugar sweetened carbonated beverages are a waste of calories – just sugar, no nutrients. If you don’t like the taste of sugar free carbonated drinks, then don’t drink them.
Don’t go cold turkey, but reduce 1 can per day every 2 or 3 days. Replace that can with a can of fruit juice or plain water.
Would not recommend you get caffeine pills to replace the caffeinated soda as they contain 100 – 200 milligrams of caffeine per pill. This is about the equivalent of 1 – 2 cups of coffee without the water. Caffeine stimulates your heart muscle, is a diuretic which stimulates your kidneys to remove more water from your blood and basically keeps you awake. The effect of caffeine lasts up to 10 hours so it can keep you up later at night or cause you problems falling asleep. If you are using caffeinated beverages to stay awake during the day, perhaps you need more sleep at night. If you got off caffeine, I think you would find that you could stay awake without it and would have smaller peaks and valleys of awareness during the day.
