It’s not so much the sugar as it is you’re dumping all that sodium into your acidic system.
One thing I wonder, Quasi - and anyone else who cut back from drinking a lot of soda to drinking little or none - did it feel better? Different? Any observable changes in your health, mood, anything? Because it seems to me that drinking a daily shitload of soda containing excessive amounts of sugar, sodium, caffeine and other unecessary ingredients must surely make a person feel different one way or another than not drinking it.
I’ve never liked soda of any kind, even when I was a kid, although once in a while a Red Bull tastes good. But the few times in my life I’ve tried to drink a Coke or Pepsi or anything of that nature it literally makes me feel sick to my stomach. I drink a fair amount of water, coffee in the morning, sometimes fruit juice, or those woo-woo green or vegetable or berry juices, or a frou-frou coffee.
A guy who works for me drinks a liter of Mountain Dew during the work-day, plus consumes Monster Energy drinks at a fairly alarming rate. (He is 32 and has no teeth left, mind you. As I understand, he was pretty much raised on soft drinks.)
chiroptera, as far as mood goes, I have to admit that I’m on a shitload (well 4) of antidepressives along with my Aricept, so I wouldn’t be able to give you a good answer on that one. 
Health? Yes. My blood pressure (generally borderline) is now normal and my doc says he believes that’s due to the non-consumption of soda.
Water has one more property in consumption that we haven’t mentioned: it’s supposed to be a cleanser of toxins, but that one I don’t know much about either except to tell you that my pee is much less concentrated than before. A very pale yellow now.
AFAIK, a gallon isn’t hurting me and it is what my body seems to need, but I did need y’all’s input, because… well … just because, dammit! :)
Quasi
Well, good for you!
And for what it’s worth, my pee is always pale yellow too. 
Also FWIW, during days or times when I’m outdoors all day in the sun and/or exerting myself physically, especially whan I lived in the very arid high desert, I know I drank a gallon or more of water per day. So far I’m still healthy and kicking in my mid 50s.
I realise the “eight glasses of water per day” is a silly myth generally, but it’s not necessarily harmful and may be necessary, depending on circumstances.
Dang…the facts really come alive when you read the list of people and circumstances surrounding water intoxication deaths. It doesn’t seem that uncommon. Kinda scary.
Not for ME, since I don’t drink water, ever. Pretty sure if I did, I would explode.
I must drink too much diet soda, though, as my urine has been completely clear my entire adult life, unless I am sick. Clear enough that I usually have to take drug tests for jobs twice, as the first result gets thrown out for being ‘too clear’. Apparantly drinking a lot of water dilutes the results or somewhat.
I wonder what happens when you’re short of electrolytes, hrm…
A gallon of water over 24 hours isn’t all that much. I drink about that each day, varying depending on activity levels.
When I worked in a kitchen I’d drink a gallon of water every day over the course of an 8-12 hour shift.
Most cases of water intoxication are the result of drinking large amounts of water in very short periods of time. Your body knows what you need, and if you’re drinking a gallon a day without feeling like you’re forcing yourself to drink that much, then you’ll be just fine.
What kind of “toxins” are we talking about? Because I thought that whole thing about how we needed to “rid our bodies of toxins” was largely a bunch of bullshit.
Seriously, Quasi, I’d talk to your doctor before doing something like this.
As pointed out, half a gallon, but from what I’ve read, 8 cups is roughly the amount of water you need, including that contained within food and any other beverages. You’d be surprised how much water many foods contain.
Well, Colophon (et.al:))… I drink two of those big plastic jugs that say on the side they contain the 8 glasses needed daily, but I find myself drinking twice that much.
I had my bloodwork checked last week, and everything looked fine. Maybe the next thing I need to look at is my meds? I haven’t done that yet. Should have been the FIRST thing I did, dumb ass me.
Thanks
Q
Dry mouth is a common side effect of antidepressants. Maybe that’s why you’re drinking so much water.
Beware of drowned rodents.
Anyway, I’m no doc, but I did give up a fairly serious soda habit a few years back to get myself to lose some weight. Worked wonders, along with portion control and running. Ideally, I want my water to have lots of ice in it, of a size that you don’t need a straw to drink it. (This is one of the great things about water: Adding ice will never water it down!) Then I just keep it around and sip at it all day.
In May of this year I decided to give up soda. I had been leaning on Coke Zero as a caffeine delivery method and decided I should probably regulate my sleep better instead.
I did have some soda dining out over my Christmas visit home, and for the long drive but I’m back on no soda. I do have tea occasionally, but have never been a big juice or milk drinker.
At work I keep a 32 oz. bottle and refill it. I’d estimate that 2/3 of the time I drink two full ones throughout the day. I always drink at least one.