My buddy Todd Dagres emailed me that crazy piece on Jezebel last week, “Your Diet Coke Problem is Actually a Problem.” I actually found the piece reassuring as it highlighted the risk of obesity and diabetes when consuming too much diet soda. Like, dah, if you are overweight you will drink diet soda all day long but still eat poorly. They seem to have the causation backwards. I was worried that it might say, as I have heard muttered by some, that my Diet Coke habit might cause brain damage or, worse, cancer.
At the same time I have begun to do battle with my daughter and niece, who is living with us for the summer, over my CZ stash (I will drink a Diet Coke in a pinch but I am really a Coke Zero man all the way). You see my consumption is epic and when the ladies of the house snag the last can it really bothers me. Most recently I have taken to bringing home 2 liter bottles on top of my 12 packs and walking around the house slugging it down straight out of the bottle. I honestly love the taste. And it makes me feel kinda manly, especially when my ritual is conducted just after working out so I’m suitably sweaty.
After taking abuse from my daughter, niece, and friend Todd all the same week, I then caught myself looking at Diet Coke billboards. Stay Extraordinary, it read.
Now I’m a guy who has guzzled his share of whiskey, flipped a few cars, and is frankly pretty darned lucky to be alive. I haven’t had a drink in going on a decade and a half but, yes, I drink a ton of CZ and shots of espresso throughout the day. A doctor friend of mine told me that caffeine has a mild anti-depressant side-effect. Whatever it is, I am figuring that it’s better than the alternative.
And then there is this wicked cool ad campaign, which I somehow missed until being forced to re-evaluate my addiction. “Stay Extraordinary!” has become my go-to phrase when I see my daughter, my niece, Todd, or just random strangers who need a hug.
No, this blog is not sponsored, though it damn well should be.
Stay Extraordinary people, with or without the CZ, DC, or other sweet-water-filled-with-chemicals habit.
I’m a week off it. The stupid-high levels of phosphoric acid in cola (and diet cola) have done some mild yet permanent damage to my tooth enamel, and according to my dad (an orthopaedic surgeon) likely some damage to my bone density. So down to plain old water, tea and milk for me.
Apparently this isn’t the case with other carbonated drinks – only cola. My dentist recommended that I have a swill of water to rinse my mouth out with every sip of cola when he heard how much I had. I would probably recommend the same to you.
For a long time – and especially after a bad youthful encounter with a supermarket generic-brand example that haunted me for years – I couldn’t stand diet cola at all. A few years ago, however, I was advised to switch to diet soft drinks, and being a huge cola fan I decided to try the diet stuff again. It took a while to acquire a taste…but finally there came the afternoon a few hours before I was due to meet some friends at a local watering hole, and I suddenly found myself fantasizing about being there with an ice-filled jug… Read more »