I must confess, I drink Diet Coke. And I drink a lot of it. I've been drinking diet coke ever since it was invented. I loved it thirty years ago, and I still love it today. I can go through 40 or 50oz of diet coke in a day if I'm not paying attention.

I know this doesn't have much to do with the vegetarian vs. carnivore debate, so we'll call it a "bi-partisan" issue.

Completely happy was I drinking down that artificially sweetened beverage until recent years. More and more studies are popping up about the harmful effects of diet soda, specifically diet coke. One of the studies suggested that diet coke wasn't any better than regular coke because the body fooled itself into thinking it was taking in sugar, and reacted accordingly. Oh my! Not my favorite beverage! Other studies warn of the harmful health effects of artificial sweeteners. I'm less inclined to believe these studies. Nevertheless, there have been many.

So, what is a former vegetarian to do? I'm thinking of going "all natural" (no, not naked, at 71, that's not a good idea). I'm thinking of only eating whole foods, organic or for the most parts non processed. I know there is a liberal definition of "organic." I guess I'll just have to use my good judgement. That means no weight loss shake, not that I'd take those anyway. But I'm also thinking of giving up the best multivitamins in exchange for real foods. Hmmmm, maybe not.

Finally, just for fun, here's a man my son's age who wrote a post on abs on a high fat diet. It's pretty entertaining.