Thanks for the article. It was very informative. I love my diet sodas!!

I've always drank them regardless of the so-called warnings. I don't listen to any of those people, lol.

I read some study that "found a correlation" between diet soda consumption and being overweight. My thought was, "Duh!" I mean, people drink diet soda because they're overweight or just don't want to pack on useless calories, but you don't get fat because of diet soda. Oh, the conspiracy...

No kidding! You are so right! Everyone at work gives me a hard time for drinking diet soda and for not having "real" sugar to put in my coffee. I never really believed any of the rat-cancer studies myself, but some people have no appreciation to how small things will make you be so much healthier. Like water! There aren't any nutrients in water, but think how healthy it makes you from drinking a good amount. If drinking diet soda cuts out those sugars it doesn't have to be good for me just better. Anyways, thanks for the article that was really interesting.

I don't either. They say stuff like "so & so substance has been shown to cause cancer in laboratory rats."

Well no **** (), they're pelting these poor rats with these substances in lethal doses, of COURSE it's gonna give them something.

Rats are not human and we're 20 times their size. I read another study once where they were trying to blow the lid on lab rat studies and they said these "substances" that give rats cancer would have to be given to us in the same lethal doses for our size in order to do any actual damage. Or, if we were to ingest the same exact doses given to these rats, it would take decades for it to make any difference.

If they wanna show how something will affect humans, then dammit, use humans.

The problem that researchers have seen with diet soda -- or with anything that has artificial sweetners in it -- is that it tends to make you crave more sweets. I know when I reduced my consumption of diet Coke when I started drinking water, I didn't want to have M&Ms with that diet Coke as often.

Hmmm, it's never done that to me.

No, Linda, don't say that! I don't want the ethics police to come take you away!!

Good points made, though... we don't know to what extent rat studies extend to humans...

Yes, I agree--I have heard/read that consuming anything sweet (calorie-free or real sugar) may cause you to want more sweets. This happens because many artificial sweeteners have similar effects on our bodies as real sugar.

But I have seen people say that they still drink regular soda because diet was even worse for you than regular, and that I still don't understand. If you're going to have 1 soda a day (or however many you have however frequently), wouldn't it be better that it be calorie-free? I mean, the sugary soda will still make you crave more sweets just like the diet soda (if having sweets has that effect on you in the first place, as many "carb addicts" have said they feel this way).

I dunno--I guess I don't have to understand everything