This week the Daily Mail reported on the story of Claire Ayton who had been drinking an astonishing seven pints of Diet Coke a day, for ten years. Claire’s love of fizzy drinks cost her £1,300 each year.
Claire decided to seek help from her GP as a result of feeling constantly tired and thirsty, and struggling with her weight.
Blood tests failed to uncover the cause of the problem and far from helping her lose weight, the 36-year-old actually put on three stone – leaving her weighing almost 13-and-a-half stone.
In desperation, she decided to see Russell Hemmings, a hypnotherapist based in Coventry. He told her that she was a fizzy drink addict and put her on a permanent Diet Coke break. Since then she has been feeling ‘revitalised’.
She said: ‘I didn’t think of it as an addiction. It was an everyday thing. I’d have one coffee in the morning and nothing else to drink but Diet Cola for the rest of the day’.
Mr Hemmings described this as ‘the worst case of fizzy drink addiction I have ever treated’. ‘I’m so glad she’s kicked the habit,’ he said. ‘When Claire first came to see me she was very lethargic, had no motivation and was sitting on the settee eating junk food.
‘Now she is drinking two litres of water a day, doing exercise classes and her diet has improved.’
Original article published by the Daily Mail on 11/10/11