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So I keep hearing Pepsi is bad for me. It's not helping me trim down any. The caffeine keeps me up at night, but it helps in the mornings. But... it's soooooo good! I'd like, give up almost anything else before Pepsi.

Is this irrational?

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So I keep hearing Pepsi is bad for me.
because of what?
It's not helping me trim down any.
Okay, but why you you expect it to?
The caffeine keeps me up at night, but it helps in the mornings.
I suppose then you should only drink it in the morning, unless you maen that you want to stay up at night and it's what helps get you through the night
But... it's soooooo good! I'd like, give up almost anything else before Pepsi.
Surely not really.

Personally, I dislike Pepsi, but I understand folks do like it. If you want a stimulant, get a stimulant (No-Doze for example). If you want fluids, drink water. If you want enjoyable taste, drink Coke. Reading between the lines, I think that drinking Diet Pepsi in the hopes of losing weight is, well, just not gonna happen. You may have to concentrate extra hard to keep from over-indulging in other stuff if you drink sugar-free drinks, but I assume you can concentrate. So enjoy the Pepsi, if you actually find it enjoyable. Or, switch to Coke.

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I recently stopped drinking any kind of soda at all (maybe 3 weeks ago or so?) and I feel great. I had stopped drinking it before and then started up again. For me personally I think it helps me to lose weight (even if it's just a little at a time) by cutting out tons of useless calories. The only reason I drank it before was because without it I would get a terrible headache. Plus, it was just habit to crack open a soda at certain times of the day. I find that replacing it with water or something else really isn't all that bad, since it was just habit drinking soda anyhow. Also, drinking a lot of soda makes me feel sort of draggy...no energy. *shrug* If you wanna keep drinking it, then whatever, but if you actually believe that soda is that terribly bad for you then I would say that, yes, it is irrational to keep drinking it. Once you give it up, it's really not so bad at all.

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The caffeine keeps me up at night, but it helps in the mornings.

Is this irrational?

Yes, because normally (i.e. if you haven't some sort of medical condition) you don't need any "help" in the morning to get up. If you have a job that demands you getting up before the sun rises use a daylight lamp alarm clock instead of relying on chemicals. Your body is optimized to "power up" in the morning in a specific way. Influencing this process by using simple chemicals can't be better then your body's million-year tested biological regulation system :)

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I don't eat much more than most of my other friends, but I'm a hell of a lot heavier. It's mostly because of mass-soda consumption. I'd say it's a very good habit to kick, but yes.. It is very good.

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Personally I think diet Mountain Dew is the best soda available. It's 0 calories, has caffeine, and tastes great!
I think the same thing about Diet Coke! Vanilla Coke Zero is good, too. And sometimes diet root beer.

Mammon, just count up the number of sodas you have in a given day, or week, and compare the total calories to your overall diet to get an idea if you should consider cutting back a little in order to get rid of some weight. Otherwise, the only things of concern regarding soda and you are: sugar, acid, and their effects on your teeth. I haven't looked into it much, but you might check for your risk of diabetes, too.

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wow, I seldom think of this, but I've never liked either coke or pepsi. I can count the times I bought Coca Cola with the fingers in my right hand, but never ever bought pepsi (and yes i've tried it).

As for caffeine drinks nothing beats Lipovitan - except for actual coffee

As for carbonated drinks in general, I like Sprite for my ph balance, and Tonic Water for its bitterness.

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Don't be silly. If you like it that much, it's hardly going to be terrible enough to be worth giving up. Also don't listen to the overblown nonsense that the food Nazis put out about soda. Here, have a read of this.

I don't think "I really like it, so it's worth the cost" is a very scientific approach. You should research the real cost of your choices when making decisions. Personally, I gained a lot of weight because I used to drink Mountain Dew all the time. I switched to the diet version, but after reading about the problems with diet sodas and caffeine, I switched to diet green tea, which is actually good for me.

I don't put much stock in the consumerfreedom.com because they are basically an industry lobby and rely on the same sort of ad-hominem and emotionalism used to attack them.

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I don't think "I really like it, so it's worth the cost" is a very scientific approach.

What I mean is, unless you have some kind of unusual medical condition or drink 6+ cans a day, it really isn't so many calories that it would be worth abandoning the kind of enjoyment he describes. There are other ways to lose weight.

Besides, soda is demonized all over the place and I think it is largely overblown and used as a scapegoat for the problems which are caused by entire lifestyles of unhealthiness.

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I switched to the diet version, but after reading about the problems with diet sodas and caffeine, I switched to diet green tea, which is actually good for me.
What kinds of problems for diet sodas and caffeine did you read about, and what caused them? Everything that I have read has either been inconclusive or countered by another study. That goes for caffeine, artificial sweeteners, and green tea (though green tea has more evidence suggesting some beneficial side-effects than counters against those claims).
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I LOVE Pepsi!!! I drink about a two-liter a day. People try to tell me I drink to much of it, that it's unhealthy or whatever. I find that they usually say this between puffs of their cigarette or weed. Enjoy what you enjoy. I don't think the negative health effects are as large as people make them out to be. I'm 30, 6-1 and 190 lbs-- hardy obese or unhealthy. :)

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Yes, because normally (i.e. if you haven't some sort of medical condition) you don't need any "help" in the morning to get up.

You're a morning person, arent you? Admit it. You probably even like early mornings. Me, I'm an evening person. I am at my best and most active starting late in the afternoon, unless the morning tires me out first. Alas, the world is dominated by morning people.

Mammon, switch to Coke. Better yet Diet Coke or Coke Zero. Coke has a nicer flavor and reacts much more energetically with Mentos™. Pepsi is riddled with Dihydrogen Monoxide, too (well, so is Coke, but saying so isn't funny). Seriously, I like Coke better, but will take Pepsi Light or Pepsi Max when more civilized drinks are unavailable.

As for caffeine, unless you ahve high-blood pressure or other medical problem, it's harmless in moderate doses. But it will keep you up at night. For years I couldn't go to bed before 1 am, but I thought that was just my natural rythm. Then I switched to caffeine-free Diet Coke, stopped drinking coffe after 3 pm, and now I am ready to collapse into bed by 11:30 pm. The downside is I can no longer stay up all night on weekends reading.

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You're a morning person, arent you? Admit it. You probably even like early mornings. Me, I'm an evening person. I am at my best and most active starting late in the afternoon, unless the morning tires me out first. Alas, the world is dominated by morning people.

I'm a all-day person :)

I don't believe in morning/evening person. What, how much, when you eat and drink is probably much more important. Read something about sleeping, digestion, get some structure in your daily life (e.g. go to bed at the same time every day) etc. and it won't matter much if you are a "morning person" or "evening person".

Then I switched to caffeine-free Diet Coke, stopped drinking coffe after 3 pm, and now I am ready to collapse into bed by 11:30 pm. The downside is I can no longer stay up all night on weekends reading.

Get a daylight lamp, they don't cost much more than a regular lamp, they just have a different surface. If your eyes catch nothing but artificial (non-day-) light you will become sleepy, especially in winter (well, that depends where you live).

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I love Pepsi too (I've tried Coke dozens of times but never once have I enjoyed it), but I find I can live without it for weeks on end. For me, at least, I've found that by cutting down I want it less and less, and it also decreases in taste. The more I drink water the more I want it, and the more refreshing it is to me. So really, Mammon, it could be a matter of training your tastes and habits.

And D'Kian, if you like Mentos with coke, then try it with root beer. It only foams up just a little bit, but makes it tastes great! What I usually do is take a mint, bite down on it, and hold it in my teeth while drinking the root beer. Very flavorful, surprisingly!

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And D'Kian, if you like Mentos with coke, then try it with root beer. It only foams up just a little bit, but makes it tastes great! What I usually do is take a mint, bite down on it, and hold it in my teeth while drinking the root beer. Very flavorful, surprisingly!

The Mentos and Coke are done for show, not taste. I've never actually tasted the result.

I do like root beer, though.

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Get a daylight lamp, they don't cost much more than a regular lamp, they just have a different surface. If your eyes catch nothing but artificial (non-day-) light you will become sleepy, especially in winter (well, that depends where you live).

If I might ask, where does one shop for a daylight lamp? I think such would be beneficial to my studies. Since the relative I live with talks so much when I'm around her (even when I'm obviously trying to focus on reading) I have to confine myself to the florescently lit basement to get some peace and quiet so I may concentrate, but as an effect sometimes I get a bit down and sleepy when I'm going for long sessions.

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If I might ask, where does one shop for a daylight lamp? I think such would be beneficial to my studies. Since the relative I live with talks so much when I'm around her (even when I'm obviously trying to focus on reading) I have to confine myself to the florescently lit basement to get some peace and quiet so I may concentrate, but as an effect sometimes I get a bit down and sleepy when I'm going for long sessions.

I don't know where you can get such lamps in the US (I don't say there aren't any, I just don't live there :) ). A google search for 'day light lamp' should do the trick, although there are quality differences between the lamps. Compared to the gain it's worth the effort to do some reading and comparing.

I'm using them since 5 years, working as a programmer sometimes long nights. To me they are very helpful.

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I don't know where you can get such lamps in the US (I don't say there aren't any, I just don't live there :) ). A google search for 'day light lamp' should do the trick, although there are quality differences between the lamps. Compared to the gain it's worth the effort to do some reading and comparing.

I'm using them since 5 years, working as a programmer sometimes long nights. To me they are very helpful.

I will, thank you very much. I'll do some research right now and hopefully be able to go to a furniture store sometime later today (mail order would take too long for me, at this point).

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I will, thank you very much. I'll do some research right now and hopefully be able to go to a furniture store sometime later today (mail order would take too long for me, at this point).

If they don't have it maybe an pet shop / animal store (or how they're called) has some.

Although I would check what kind of lamp it is, because they emit a low amount of UV radiation, too. Well, as I've said, do some research :>

An alternative would be to contact a dermatologist and/or an eye specialist or trust a major label that sells those.

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I'm a all-day person ;)

There's no such thing. You may function well enough all day long, but you are not at your best all day long.

I don't believe in morning/evening person.

Truth does not require belief.

What, how much, when you eat and drink is probably much more important. Read something about sleeping, digestion, get some structure in your daily life (e.g. go to bed at the same time every day) etc. and it won't matter much if you are a "morning person" or "evening person".

Such thigns matter, yes. I'm able to go to bed earlier than I used to, and to sleep nearly 8 hours every night, nor do I feel like a log in the mornings. But I am still at my best from late afternoon onwards as compared with mornings.

When we pull a late night or an all-nighter at the office, I do much better after 5pm than before, regardless of any other considerations. One time we worked through the night, then I had to go elsewhere that morning, and work extended through the afternoon into early evening. I was a wreck most of the day, but after 5pm I was more lucid and capable (not as every other day, but better than that whole day). I even managed to drive home around 7 pm without any trouble.

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If they don't have it maybe an pet shop / animal store (or how they're called) has some.

Although I would check what kind of lamp it is, because they emit a low amount of UV radiation, too. Well, as I've said, do some research :>

An alternative would be to contact a dermatologist and/or an eye specialist or trust a major label that sells those.

Pet shop. Never thought of that. I could only find one location that sold them on the shelves, and they are of the OTT-LITE brand name. Lady there said she has been using them for six years and was recommended to her by her doctor. I got a little mini one that will do me well for studying.

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