Look, the giant soda ban proposed by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is probably not gonna happen, and even if it does, it won't be until March 2013 at the earliest—and you can do a lot of Dew in that timeframe. So, if you were expecting someone else to slap that Big Gulp out of your hands, sorry.
Still, folks looking to make a dent in their soda habit don't necessarily have to do it alone. Researchers organized a 30-day "Sodabriety" challenge for Appalachian high-school students (the area is riddled with diabetes), wherein the teenagers reduced their consumption of sugary beverages or cut them out entirely. Students tracked their daily drinks—which suddenly included a lot of water—and chose how to share that info with their peers. "They motivated each other in ways that showed a sense of ownership and pride," said Laureen Smith, one of the study's investigators.
So, idea: Perhaps non-teens can kick soda by starting a Google doc diary for you and all of your friends or coworkers?
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PHOTO: Gourmet/Romulo A. Yane