Regular soft drinks are loaded with fructose and high fructose corn syrup which are empty calories,and major contributors to both the obesity and type 2 diabetes epidemics in these United States, and many other countries.

Diet soft drinks are even worse since they contain slow chemical toxins. Aspartame (NutriSweet, Equal), which was originally developed as an insecticide, was the most common, but other chemical sweeteners are creeping up on it- and they're no better. Splenda for example, is chlorinated sugar, a molecule never before found in Nature, and one that is now raising eyebrows as well.

I have found a diet drink alternative that I would like to share with you.

The difference is that this one is entirely non-toxic. And not only is it completely natural but it tastes good.

It is called "Zevia" and it got started because one of its founders had been worried for years about his wife (one of Zevia's co-founders) who was a chronically heavy consumer of diet soft drinks-and their harmful chemical sweeteners.

With only pure ingredients, ZEVIA contains none of the chemically processed artificial sugar substitutes, artificial flavors or artificial colors found in other diet sodas. ZEVIA is all-natural, has zero calories, zero net carbs, zero fat, and little or no sodium (depending on flavor).

All seven delicious ZEVIA varieties - ZEVIA Natural Cola, ZEVIA Natural Orange, ZEVIA Natural Twist, ZEVIA Natural Root Beer, ZEVIA Natural Black Cherry, and ZEVIA Natural Ginger Ale - are healthier and taste better than any other diet soda.

Zevia's pure, all natural ingredients include stevia, an herb native to South and Central America used for centuries to sweeten food. Stevia is hundreds of times sweeter than sugar and has no effect on blood sugar levels.

Rather than the phosphoric acid used to flavor both "regular" and "diet" soft drinks (which leaches calcium form bones), Zevia uses natural tartaric acid from grapes.

All the other ingredients are natural too, and include caramel or annatto (from the achiote tree) for coloring, and citric acid or kola nut extract for flavoring, as well as caffeine derived from coffee and tea. Both the kola nut extract and caffeine are stimulants, so if you're caffeine-sensitive, you should avoid the Natural Cola flavor of Zevia.

To find a store selling Zevia near you, check www.zevia.com.