The author (R) and CNBC Make It senior editor Vanna Le making towers out of Diet Coke bottles and cans in 2018. For decades, drinking a Diet Coke every day gave me a burst of caffeine and satisfaction. I decided to make three changes at once: walk more, tweet less and, after 25 years, put down the Diet Coke. Don't miss: A Harvard nutritionist eats these 10 foods to 'fuel' her brain and 'stay sharp' A year later, I was three for three. I knew Diet Coke wasn't exactly barley tea or a turmeric latte.

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Persons: Vanna Le, Coke, Wasn't, hadn't, Michiko Tomioka, Uma Naidoo, Harvard Medical School —, Naidoo, Uma Organizations: CNBC, Harvard Medical School, Cola Company, Harvard Medical Locations: Harvard