Coach Prather Says...

and drinking diet products are healthier.

The most important thing to be aware of is the 

ingredient aspartame, which is a sugar substitute 

and found in every diet substance. It is an artificial additive that is highly carcinogenic, meaning 

it is capable of causing cancer. Many foods have 

this ingredient, but it is most often found in any 

type of diet drinks and chewing gum. Therefore, 

diet drinks are misconstrued as having healthier 

benefits and lower calories.

My first suggestion is to begin limiting different types of drinks throughout the day and focus 

on getting enough water. My second suggestion 

is you are better off drinking a real coke over a 

diet coke. Since the calorie count is higher, drink 

less…but the body knows how to process the real sugar more efficiently. Also, beware of fruit juices, unless it is a whole fruit juice, such as “Naked Fruit” or “V8” products. Most fruit juices are 

filled with high fructose corn syrup, and have little to no real fruit juice. High fructose corn syrup 

goes straight to the blood stream and is responsible for high blood sugar, ADD, chronic fatigue, 

and concentration problems.

Orange juice is one of the few fruit juices that 

is mostly real fruit, the rest are all artificially flavored and artificially sweetened. So, instead of 

helping out the body, the juices are causing more 

harm than good. Once again, it is best to stick to 

water, tea, or coffee, unless it is 100% real fruit 

juice. Beverages of this sort often times provide 

hundreds of empty calories that effect weight gain 

and sleep issues. So evaluate your liquid content 

and begin focusing on water intake, and begin 

seeing the changes in the way you feel!