These people were drinking a few cans of soda a day. Here's what happened to their health when they gave it up.

While soda used to be a staple of the American diet, consumption of the fizzy drink in the U.S. has consistently fallen for more than a decade. Americans are currently drinking 25% less soda than they did in 2000. Of course, we’re talking about traditional sodas here. Data shows that probiotic and prebiotic sodas are becoming more popular each year, but these tend to have significantly less sugar and additives than their old-school predecessors.

A wealth of research over the past two decades has shown that traditional sodas aren’t great for your health. “Regular soda displaces healthier calories because it takes up some room in the stomach, but it also adds a significant amount of calories to someone's diet without any healthful benefit,” Dana Ellis Hunnes, senior dietitian at UCLA Medical Center and assistant professor at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, tells Yahoo Life.

Regular soda is also packed with sugar. A 20-ounce bottle of Coke contains 240 calories and 65 grams of sugar, for example — that’s more than the recommended daily allowance for most people. “In excess, that sugar can increase your weight, visceral fat and your overall risk for chronic disease — diabetes, heart disease and fatty-liver disease,” Hunnes says.

Those realities are pushing some people to give up soda altogether. When that happens, how is their health affected? Yahoo Life talked with with four people who decided to ditch soda for a range of reasons. Here’s what we learned.

'Drinking water instead changed my life in more ways than I had ever imagined it could'

Mina Grace Ward would have six cans of soda or more a day before she finally stopped. “My mornings always began with a chilled can of Coke for my commute,” she tells Yahoo Life. Her personal office fridge, which held 12 cans of soda, had to be restocked every other day. “I'd go through a can like it was going out of style,” she says. “I’d even pop a can at night while going through work emails.”

But Ward eventually gave up drinking soda when, a decade ago, she was diagnosed with Graves’ disease, an autoimmune condition that causes rapid weight loss, hair loss, high blood pressure, insomnia and more. “I was sick and tired of feeling like a Mack truck ran me over every day,” she says.

After Ward made other significant dietary changes, she started to feel better. “Even though I continue to live with Graves’ disease, I’ve been able to live with it in full remission for nearly seven years,” she says. “That's a big deal.”

Now she mostly drinks plain water. “It’s the most refreshing, hydrating and good-for-you beverage out there,” she says.

'I was more motivated to move'

Seth Goodman thought about giving up soda for years before he finally ditched the drink in 2018 for one of his New Year’s resolutions. “The choice to give up soda was really inspired by the health, time and financial benefits that I knew would come along with this choice,” the publicist tells Yahoo Life. “While a single soda is relatively cheap, multiple a day or week add up and were impacting my finances.”

Goodman drank soda regularly as a kid, and the habit continued into adulthood. “This also included really going out of my way to get soda if I was craving it, more specifically Coke,” he says. “Throughout the days, I would find myself having an urge for McDonald’s Coke, leading to multiple trips in a single day.”

He admits that it was difficult to avoid soda at first due to constant cravings. “It took a lot of mental fortitude to resist the urge to drink soda,” he says.

But once he stopped drinking soda, Goodman says he immediately noticed he had more energy. “I was more motivated to move and do activities,” he says. “It did take time to get past the sugar cravings, but I turned to gum as a way to fight that feeling of needing a soda. After a few weeks, it became natural to not want soda.”

'I lost five pounds within about three months'

Marketing director Terry Wells decided to give up soda in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. At the time, she was drinking two sodas a day — either a Sprite or Orange Crush — although Wells says she would reach for ginger ale if she had an upset stomach.

“I realized during the early days of the COVID pandemic that I was gaining more weight than I wanted sitting home,” she tells Yahoo Life. “I decided to give up my soda habit and drink more water.”

Wells says that it took time, but her cravings for sugar subsided, and she dropped five pounds within three months. “My husband and I also started walking and working out here at home, which we've continued to do five years later,” she says.

Wells says she decided to stick with water, smoothies and chai to satisfy her sweet tooth. Now, when she wants something fizzy, Wells says she’ll create soda water with her home machine and add fresh lemon and lime juice.

'I no longer had late afternoon headaches'

Texas resident Bennett Barrier stopped drinking soda nearly a decade ago after becoming dehydrated at work. The turf installation company owner was working on a stadium when he felt lightheaded in the heat. “I'd consumed three sodas, but zero water,” he tells Yahoo Life.

Before that, Barrier says he would drink up to five sodas a day. “I had a cola with lunch, orange soda in the taxi and some type of soda reading bids,” he says. “It was all part of the grind. But it added up, and I didn't like the tightness in my chest at the end of the day.”

After Barrier stopped drinking soda, he says the digestion and bloating issues he struggled with in the past went away. “I no longer had late afternoon headaches,” he says. While Barrier says his sleep was unaffected, his mornings felt more seamless. “I could wake up, read crew callouts and still carry on a full conversation before coffee,” he says.

Barrier says he replaced his soda habit with iced tea, which he makes in bulk. He also adds mint or lemon, based on the season. “That kept the ritual but took out the syrup,” he says, noting that this swap doesn’t make him feel deprived. “Don't punish yourself for quitting soda,” Barrier says. “Set it up as a trade — something better that you feel you've earned.”

Should you cut back on soda?

Nutritionists say you needn't give up soda altogether, but it’s wise to cut back if it's become part of your routine. “Soda should be an occasional treat, not a daily habit,” Scott Keatley, a dietitian and co-owner of Keatley Medical Nutrition Therapy, tells Yahoo Life. “If you drink it every day, your body may be stuck in a cycle of sugar spikes and cravings.” Those can raise your risk of developing type 2 diabetes and also leave you with energy crashes, he says.

That’s why Keatley suggests cutting back or switching to unsweetened drinks like sparkling water or iced tea. “It is not about never having soda again,” he says. “It is about knowing what it does and making choices that support long-term health.”

Stacy Cleveland, a dietitian at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, tells Yahoo Life that probiotic sodas may be a good swap for traditional sodas, but says it’s important to find options with minimal sugar. And even then, she recommends limiting them.

“When choosing to consume soda, moderation is best. The less, the better,” Cleveland says.