The news: 

Coca-Cola and Pepsi have both announced they will remove brominated vegetable oil, a somewhat controversial chemical added to prevent the drinks' ingredients from separating. The change followed a series of petitions on Change.org by Sarah Kavanagh, a Mississippi teenager who noted it was patented as a flame retardant and unapproved for use in Japan and the EU.

The more I read about soda the more I think I should give it up.

What does this mean for me? 

Soda isn't necessarily toxic. But consuming it regularly has been repeatedly shown to have detrimental health effects. And since it generally contains no vitamins or minerals, there's certainly no beneficial effect of drinking soda other than the taste and possible cravings. So you should probably keep your consumption of Coca-Cola, Pepsi and other sodas to a minimum.

I do wish it was easier to give up soda. It's harder than it should be.

Do you drink it in the morning instead of coffee to wake up?

No. I actually don't need morning beverage to wake up. 

Then there is hope.

Once you reduce your comsumption of sugar, and insulin-spiking carbs generally, you'll really notice a difference if you ever do try them again. When I was a kid I could drink a big Slurpee, now I can't drink even one of those tiny cans of soda without feeling terrible. In addition, too much sweet actually has a sickening taste. The body adjusts.

Good to know.

There's a new movie about sugar called Fed Up:

http://pandawhale.com/post/43726/fed-up-movie-sugar-is-addictive-poison-that-makes-people-sick