I admit it. Even though I drink plenty of water and tea, I still consume too much soda. If you’re like me, here are a few reasons you may want to stop drinking soda and some tips on how to quit or scale back.

1. It causes invisible fat buildup around your organs. A Danish study showed that drinking non-diet soda led to dramatic increases in dangerous hidden fats. In America, many sodas are sweetened with high-fructose corn syrup, causing even worse fat buildup.
2. Some contain toxic flame retardants. This chemical helps keep the artificial flavoring from separating. Bromated vegetable oil (BVO) can cause bromide poisoning symptoms like skin lesions, memory loss and nerve disorders.
3. Colas can contain an unlabeled cancer-causing caramelizing agent that makes sodas brown. The ingredient has been shown to cause leukemia as well as lung, liver and thyroid cancers. There is a safer alternative but it is four times more expensive, so most beverage manufacturers don’t use it.
4. Desire to cut down on empty calories and added sugars in your diet.
5. Artificial sweeteners like aspartame and saccharin found in diet sodas have been found to enhance the human appetite and actually cause weight gain.
6. Regular diet soda drinkers are more likely to develop metabolic syndrome causing a higher risk for diabetes, stroke and heart disease.

If this information has been convincing and you are willing to stop or cut down on your soda consumption, here are some tips to help:

– Scale back slowly and stay consistent
– Explore tasty alternatives and have them handy
– Adopt a no-soda policy at home or work
– Break the routine of drinking a soda at certain times/places by substituting a different drink
– Make yourself accountable by involving family and friends to remind you of your goal
– Redefine the word ‘stop’, meaning that it is okay to have a soda once in a while but less than the rate you are consuming them now.

Adapted from Rodale and Livestrong articles.