If you have seen Star Wars as many times as my family has, then you are very familiar with the evil Chancellor Palpatine who appoints himself as Emperor, and then wins over Anakin Skywalker to the Dark Side. Thankfully, many years later, Luke Skywalker sees that there is still some good left in his father, Darth Vader, and saves him from the Dark Side. Unfortunately, soda , a very highly consumed beverage, is just like the Emperor- no good inside whatsoever. And if you think that diet soda is similar to Darth Vader- a dark outside, but really okay in the end- you are mistaken. Here are just a handful of studies that have come forth recently about the pitfalls of drinking soda- regular AND diet:

• Diet soft drink consumption is linked with increased disease risk and weight gain due to depletion of essential minerals.

• Drinking soda may increase heart attack risk

• An increased weight circumference associated with diet soda consumption

• Caramel Coloring in soda may be cancer-causing