Dr. Oz Outlines a 28-Day Soda Quitting Plan

by Michele Bell 32

When it comes to medical opinions, it's sometimes wise to get a second one, which is what I am asking of you, oh wise FitSugar readers. A fan of Dr. Oz, I watched his show the other day where he mapped out a 28-day plan to rid one of his audience members of her 12-sodas-a-day drinking habit. A cola junkie, she seemed excited about their plan to walk away from the bubbly drinks, but I'm just not sure I'm buying his month-long program.

Curious to see what it is?

• Week one: Go from regular soda to a diet soda to get over the sugar craving. He encourages one to eat fish, eggs, and beans during this phase.
• Week two: Go from diet soda to caffeine-free diet soda to rid your body of the caffeine fix. He suggests taking ibuprofen for headaches and snacking on foods rich in vitamin B.
• Week three: Cut your soda intake down in half. Instead of only drinking the caffeine-free diet sodas, drink a seltzer water combined with a small percentage (about 20 percent) of your favorite fruit juice.
• Week four: No more sodas! Just chew sugar-free gum when you need a sweet treat.

Don't get me wrong . . . I'm all for quitting the soda habit, but I wonder if this is the best route. I rarely advocate artificial sweeteners, which is what most of the diet sodas have (hello, steps two and three!), and I wonder how easy it would actually be to give up the real deal for similar substitute items. If I were up for a no soda challenge, I think I'd just go cold turkey and not mess with the aspartame. But hey, that's just me. What do you think about Dr. Oz's stop-the-soda-madness plan?