Sodas/carbonation and stretching your stomach

I usually have a sip or two of Dr. Pepper a couple of times a week.  My husband and I just got back from Long John Silvers and we both ordered our food but he ordered the drink.  I allowed myself a sip or two during our meal and that satisfies me.  I NEVER buy it and keep it in the house though...too much temptation for this DP lover.  Once again they are not good for us but a sip here and there I feel is okay.  I am at goal though and while losing kept to the rules and didn't drink any cokes. 

Lisa

I needed to read this one...as I have defintiely slipped up on this.

I agree that ACID is the culprit(but I believe acid is the culprit in almost every disease)

Acid will eventually thin the lining of whatever it touches...think of battery acid and the whole it can create in anything it touches...well coke is worse than battery acid...

so if the acid thins the lining of the stomach it will eventually make it bigger, in a sense, to hold more food..but it is damaging the stomach at the same time and that is worse...it takes a long time but it depends on how much one drinks...

I needed to read this...cuz I need to give it up...even the splenda and stevia ones...acid is acid and it doesn't play favorites...

How funny that this topic should come up when I just received the following email today from a friend of mine. Interesting reading!

Water or Coke?

           WATER

            #1.   75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated.
              (Likely applies to half the world population.)


            #2.   In 37% of Americans, the thirst mechanism is so weak
            that it is mistaken for hunger.


            #3.   Even MILD dehydration will slow down one's metabolism as 3%
 

            #4.   One glass of water wil l shut down midnight hunger pangs
                for almost 100% of the dieters studied in a University of
                Washington study.


            #5.    Lack of water, the #1 trigger of daytime fatigue.


            #6.    Preliminary research indicates that 8-10 glasses of
                 water a day could significantly ease back and joint pain
                 for up to 80% of sufferers.


            #7.    A mere 2% drop in body water can trigger fuzzy short-term
               memory, trouble with basic math, and difficulty focusing on
               the computer screen or on a printed page.


            #8.   Drinking 5 glasses of water daily decreases the risk of
               colon cancer by 45%, plus it can slash the risk of breast
               cancer by 79%., and one is 50% less likely to develop
               bladder cancer. Are you drinking the amount of water
               you should drink every day?

            COKE

            #1.    In many states the highway patrol carries
                two gallons of Coke in the trunk to remove blood from
                the highway after a car accident.

            #2.    You can put a T-bone steak in a bowl of Coke
            and it will be gone in two days.

            #3.   To clean a toilet: Pour a can of Coca-Cola into the
                toilet bowl and let the "real thing" sit for one hour,
            then flush clean. The citric acid in Coke removes
            stains from vitreous china.

            #4.    To remove rust spots from chrome car bumpers:
                  Rub the bumper with a rumpled-up piece of Reynolds
            Wrap aluminum foil dipped in Coca-Cola.

            #5.   To clean corrosion from car battery terminals: Pour
                 a can of Coca-Cola over the terminals to bubble
            away the corrosion.

            #6.   To loosen a rusted bolt: Apply a cloth soaked in Coca-Cola
            to the rusted bolt for several minutes.

            #7.   To bake a moist ham: Empty a can of Coca-Cola into
              the baking pan, wrap the ham in aluminum foil, and bake.
            Thirty minutes before ham is finished, remove the foil, allowing the drippings to mix
            with the Coke for a sumptuous brown gravy.

           #8...    To remove grease from clothes: Empty a can of Coke
             into the load of greasy clothes, add detergent, and run
            through a regular cycle. The Coca-Cola will help loosen
           grease stains. It will also clean road haze from your
            windshield.

            FOR YOUR INFORMATION:

            #1.     the active ingredient in Coke is phosphoric acid.
            It will dissolve a nail in about four days. Phosphoric
           acid also leaches calcium from bones and is a major
            contributor to the rising increase of osteoporosis.

            #2.   To carry Coca-Cola syrup! (the concentrate) the
            commercial trucks must use a hazardous Material place
            cards reserved for highly corrosive materials.

            #3.     The distributors of Coke have been using it to clean
            engines of the trucks for about 20 years!


            Now the question is, would you like a glass of water?

            or Coke?

ooo that was gooooooood...

this one is interesting...cuz I went looking for citric acid info...

http://www.theecologist.org/pages/archive_detail.asp?content _id=636

LOL!  A great topper to the conversation!

Debbie,

Personally, I have wondered the same thing.  I am with you tho... I haven't had carbinated drinks since before surgery and I have no intentions of having it now.  Life is grand without it. :-)

Though I WAS a caffeine-free diet pepsi addict prior to surgery, no carbonation of any sort has entered my body since two weeks pre-op and it never will.  My surgeon says no carbonation ever due to acid and a possibility of stretching.  While I don't know about the stretching, I don't want to find out first hand.  Though I miss it every day (because I HATE water with a passion), I will never drink soda again.  I just don't want to take the risk.

I think it does stretch it some - when I had the band, the first time I tried to drink soda it hurt like heck, but the more I drank the easier it got.  It got to the point to where I could eat more too.  Don't know if the two go together but it makes sense!!

I got my sleeve to be "normal."  For me, normal is having anything I want in moderation.  I will have a few sips or coke or dr pepper or sprite a month, and it's fine.  Have I had a whole can or even a half or quarter can?  No, and I won't.

Carbonation doesn't stretch your stomach--I don't care what other people say.  The first thing I learned with the VSG is that the stretchy part of your stomach is removed.  Also, anyone who uses the "expanded balloon" experiment to prove a stomach stretches is mistaken.  If you fill a balloon with soda it will expand because you are sealing off the hole.  Your stomach has two exits (top and bottom) so the carbonation escapes.  Also, the carbonation is diluted as soon as it gets to your stoma*****ontact with other liquids and stomach acid.

That being said, it you are addicted to carbs, then don't drink any soda.  I was never addicted to soda so it was never and continues to not be a problem for me.

Like I said, I eat everything I want just in a lot smaller servings.  Also, my tastes have changed so I don't really crave bread or sweets like cake or pie.  If we go out to eat and my husband orders a soda, I will have a few sips and I am fine.  I have been doing this since about six weeks after I was sleeved and I have lost probably 80% or more of my excess weight.

What she said. It can't stretch your stomach because of physics. Which is to say the gas will take the path of least resistence. IOW, you'll burp or fart before your stomach will stretch.

Yeah, I know the programs and the NUTs say it will. But they say other things that aren't true too.

However, unlike Alexrichiemama, I don't drink it. Soda is gross and not good for you and I'm pretty sure the carbonation would hurt because of other things I've eaten that expanded in my stomach and hurt.