151 intro you know sodas not exactly good for youbut at the same time it can be hard to resist its sweet taste pleasant fizz and energizing jolt often seems like just what you need to wash down your dinner get you through an afternoon slump or quench your thirst at the movies but the more soda you consume regular or diet the more hazardous your habit can become and whether youre a sixpackaday drinker or an occasional softdrink sipper cutting back can likely have benefits for your weight and your overall health heres why you should be drinking less plus tips on how to make the transition easier 27 mistakes healthy people make the biggest risk for regular soda drinkers is the excess calories says lona sandon rd assistant professor of clinical nutrition at the university of texas southwestern medical center the calories in regular soda are coming entirely from added sugar and youre not getting any value in terms of vitamins or minerals or even good quality carbohydrates she says but soda may also be causing other types of harm studies have shown that its consumption is linked with tooth decay and diabetes and it also seems to be bad for your bones it may have something to do with the phosphorus in soda or it could be that people are drinking soda instead of other beverageslike milkthat have nutrients necessary for healthy bones sandon says but what about diet soda sugarfree sodas may not have any calories but that doesnt mean theyre any good for you in fact they may not even help you lose weight research on this topic has been mixed at best but several studies have shown that diet soda drinkers are more likely to be overweight or obese than regular soda drinkers plus diet drinks have many of the same health risks as regular soft drinks including tooth decay and bone thinning and theyve also been linked to heart disease and depression in women switching to diet sodas may be a smart first step if youre trying to eliminate excess calories says sandon but your best bet is to eventually give them up too 10 reasons to give up diet soda quicklist 1category ways to stop drinking soda for goodtitle wean yourself off slowlyurltextthat news may be enough to convince you that you should stop drinking soda but it could still be easier said than done people really can become addicted to soda so you have to be a realist and not an idealist says nutritionist stefanie sacks author of the forthcoming book what the fork are you eating i dont recommend going cold turkey you need to wean yourself off just like you would anything youve become dependent on if you typically drink multiple servings of soda a day sacks suggests first cutting back to one a day give that two weeks then switch to three sodas a week it gives you a chance to adjust gradually which should lead to