Soda Consumption

Before having all these health issues, I used to drink a lot of soda. In college, instead of coffee, I would drink Mountain Dew to stay awake while studying. I never went the Jolt Cola route, but a lot of classmates drank that instead.

Fast forward to my previous job. We had a display refrigerator in each break room with free cans of soda. I drank a lot of regular cola and root beer while working there. I did not like the taste of the artificial sweeteners used in diet soda. When I found out I had type 2 diabetes, I started drinking diet soda, and later Coke Zero. Finally, with ESRD and dialysis, I was told to avoid sugar and dark sodas because of the phosphoric acid.

Now after the kidney transplant, my phosphorus levels are consistently low, even with taking phosphorus supplements. I was taking 250mg of Virt-Phos twice a day. During the last clinic appointment, I told the nurse practitioner that I was eating more cheese and drinking more milk. She mentioned that those foods have a lot of fat and calories, and I should drink more diet soda. I have not had any soda except diet 7-up in about three years, so I went to my local Albertsons and bought three cases of Coke Zero. I also asked my parents to pick up some at Costco, and they came back with a case of 35 cans. Now I am drinking a lot of water, and two cans of Coke Zero each day. Hopefully that will raise my phosphorus levels without affection potassium levels too much.

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Evidently, it is now called Coke Zero Sugar instead of Coke Zero. Other than the “new” packaging, I did not really notice any differences. Of course, I have not had a Coke Zero for several years so I still remember the old packaging. I also was unable to find all the different flavors. There was only regular Coke Zero (Sugar) and cherry at the local Albertsons. I really want the vanilla flavored ones, and there is an orange flavored one as well. I used to drink the lime flavored Diet Coke too, but I could not find that either.