I Used To Drink 20 Cans Of Fizzy Drinks A Day And Now I Have Heart Disease

[NellieGirl]

I used to drink 20 cans of fizzy drinks a day, mostly coke and irn bru.

A month ago, I was diagnosed with heart disease and I got told I needed to stop drinking fizzy drinks completely or I would be at risk of a heart attack.

I am allowed to drink all other drinks that are not fizzy. I don't like milk, and water is boring and so is fruit juice. It's not only boring, I'm also sad that I'm not allowed to drink fizzy drinks anymore, not even occasionally. I feel sad pretty much all the time.

It is making me never want to go to parties or go out for dinner. Me, my dh, and my two dc used to watch films on Friday night and Saturday night, and even watching films is boring when I can't drink fizzy drinks.

Is anyone in a similar situation? Or does anyone know anything I can do to get over it?

my method is really simple and lazy. I put a bunch of black tea in a large glass pitcher and let it sit on the counter for a few hours. I’ve found this just as effective as heating the water and it produces a nice smooth flavor tea. When it looks dark enough I take out the bags and refrigerate overnight.

I buy bottles of lime juice at my
local supermarket since it is dramatically cheaper and easier than buying limes.

for carbonating I add 2 oz of lime juice and then fill up the rest of my 1 liter bottle with tea.

Yes my relative only drinks water now.

Has the quantity been massively exaggerated here?

If they were full sugar cokes, they wouldn’t have aspartame in them so was it mostly Iron Bru? Even if it was half and half coke/IB you’d be drinking 2,000 extra calories a day so would you not be dangerously overweight? You’d also be drinking twice the recommended liquid intake per day.

I’m not trying to disagree with your doctor as what do I know, but he should have given more advice than ‘stop drinking fizzy drinks’ to help you. Especially as this is clearly a lifelong addiction for you; you need the help to make the change mentally and emotionally.

It makes no sense that they are saying ‘you can drink anything else except fizzy drinks’ because the fizz itself is not bad for you.

it’s like saying to give up champagne but all other alcoholic drinks are ok.

This instruction makes no sense to me.

That level of sugar must be hard to come down from. Have they offered you any assistance?

20 cans of fizzy drink a day sounds like a lot of sugar. Would likely be high diabetes risk too.

Thanks!!

I am sorry to hear about your diagnosis, it must have been a shock and of course it is daunting to have to think about what you are going to drink instead of the fizzy stuff. You have done really well to stop smoking and that it is one of the best things we can do to help our health. Anyway, back to the drinks. I realised that I hardly ever drank water, like you i find it boring and would only glug down about half a small glass a day. I changed this by filling a large glass and adding some slices of frozen citrus fruit (lime, lemon or orange) and keep the glass by my side when I am doing something else, cooking, reading, watching T V and so on. I take small sips every now and then and found that this was such an easy way to up my fluid intake without really thinking about it.

For me it was my kidneys.

Have you ever heard of Mio, @NellieGirl?
It’s sweetener drops you add to water.
I’ve been using it for years and have successfully gone off all fizzy drinks.
And hopefully saved my one remaining kidney.
You can buy it on Amazon.
I’m partial to the Sweet Tea flavour.

My DH has just been diagnosed with AF have been worried sick about him how serious is it

I suspect it’s the caffeine in them especially. Caffeine free cordial with sparkling water in moderation is likely to be fine but a maximum of 500ml per day in total (I strongly suspect 1 can of fizzy drink per day is ok too but 20 is a huge amount. )

I know someone else who has been told he needs to cut them all out but he can have squash (max 100ml of cordial per day)

I'm wondering if you're being too dismissive in saying juice is "boring." There are so many kinds of juice that to shrug off apple juice, pineapple juice, apricot juice, tomato juice, cranberry juice - not to mention things like strawberry lemonade - makes me think you didn't give them a fair try.

I'm not sure of the association between AAA and dizzy drinks. Hopefully you are having ultrasound surveillance and will have treatment (EVAR) if needed

My dc do also drink fizzy drinks. They also drink fizzy drinks with their lunch and their dinner and they have at least 1 can when we watch a film and they have 3 or 4 cans at a party, and they usually have 2 cans when we go out for dinner. My dd is 16 and my ds is 15 so I can't really control them now. They love fizzy drinks as much as I did, so I don't know if my condition would make them stop having or wanting it.

Some people do hypnoses when trying to quit smoking or binge eating. Is that something worth looking into OP?

If it's aspartane you can't have then you'll be very limited on what drinks you can drink. Please be aware that due to the surgery tax even some drinks that aren't labelled as sugar free also now contain aspartane. This isn't just fizzy drinks but can be squash as well.

I really can't stand the taste of it and the only fizzy drink available without it in now is full fat coke, you may find the odd lemonade from places like M&S or Waitroses without it in. But also squash even the high juice some of them now contain it as well.

If you’re allowed it, fizzy water and elderflower cordial is gorgeous

She’s got an aortic aneurism, if they tell you to give up eating cucumbers on Tuesdays you do it because of the AORTIC ANEURISM

The additives in the fizzy excite the heart muscle. So do things like pot noodles or anything very artificial. Heart muscles very reactive. Some contain caffiene.

Dh had atrial fibrillation with atrial flutter and tachycardia. A cup of tea could set him off so he had to give up normal tea and have decaf, also couldn’t have milk chocolate it had to be white and cocoa free some white chocolate has cocoa solids in it not just cocoa butter.

Rather obligingly he died of cancer before his ablation surgery date came through.

🤣🤣🤣
how did you find time to drink all that

there’s 24 hours to every day and it’s easy to drink that much!!

How about something like waterdrop tablets it isn’t the cheapest but then you have been spending on fizzy drinks. They have lemonade and Coke flavours but I just have one a day!

I also like lime and lemon juice in water but that can take off your enamel

also chilling water does make it taste better

How long have your dc been drinking fizzy drinks every day? Obviously at their age it's hard to stop them now, but why did you let them get into the habit? I know you said that you did the same as a child, but as a parent you can't have been unaware how unhealthy it is!

Did you take 15 or do cans of fizzy drink to work with you or were you buying from a vending machine/ shop?

It sounds very much like an addiction @NellieGirl . Did you immediately open another can as you finished the previous one in the same way people addicted to cigarettes chain smoke?

I can't offer any advice as although partial to a fizzy drink, I'm one of those weirdos who likes the taste of plain water but I hope you find something that sates the fizzy craving soon.

You can have something like san pellegrino essenza it has no sugar no sweeteners it is just fruit infused sparkling water. The cherry and pomegranate one is lovely make sure to get essenza not zero the zero ones have sweetener

I don’t think that anyone is doing you any favours by suggesting alternatives to fizzy drinks.

You just need to stop. I know that isn’t simple but if this was cocaine or gambling no one would suggest that you just slow down or replace it with an alternative drug.

it will be hard to do but you need to break the habit and stop. You have children. It’s totally ridiculous to continue knowing that it could kill you.

surely no fizzy drink is worth missing your children grow up. And the idea that you cannot stop them from drinking multiple cans a day is a joke. Educate them. Tell them what happened to you.

im sorry if this comes across as a lack of sympathy but you need to wise up right now.

You say you’re “not allowed” to drink fizzy drinks anymore as though it’s a rule someone mean is imposing on you. Of course you are allowed to keep drinking fizzy drinks, if that’s what makes you happy and you don’t mind shortening your life and bringing on a heart attack, then you are free to do so. It is completely your choice.