I've been trying to quit drinking diet soda. Tab (it appeals to my contrarian nature) and Diet Coke are my drugs of choice. They really are drugs, to me. I hear the "pop - swish" sound of a can being opened and it makes my mouth begin to water. Then I NEED one. It alters my mood if I can't get it. Some of you have experienced the brunt of my "altered" mood when I don't get one - sorry.
I have quit 3 times this year, but this attempt has lasted the longest (I'm at about 36 hours now). I'm hoping that quitting will alleviate some stomach acid probs (too personal?) and I'm secretly hoping there is some credence to the claims that diet soda causes inflammation. By cutting it out, perhaps my severe knee pain (multiple motocross accidents) will subside, or at least become more manageable. I doubt this is going to work. But I'm going to try anyway. It would be stupid not to exhaust this option.
I have always been convinced that most of the claims made against diet soda are nothing more than awfulism and ridiculousness. I've read the studies. Like the famous (infamous?) University of Texas study on diet soda. Remember that one? It was picked up by every news organization world-wide. It basically said that fat people drink diet soda...therefore diet soda must be making people fat. Do you see the holes here? I mean, they all breath air too. Maybe it's the air making them fat. Then again, maybe it's their faces. Maybe the people who've gotten fat while drinking diet soda hold their faces in a certain way while they are drinking it. Could be that, right?
It was a stupid study.
Maybe I'm wrong about diet soda. Maybe it really it is as evil as it is cracked up to be. Then again, maybe there are two sides of this coin. Maybe it is only bad for a certain few (I suspect this to be so) and maybe it is perfectly fine for some (also a suspicion).
What is your experience? What side of the coin are you on?
Are you undecided? Here are a couple of different stances on Aspartame (the sweeteners in most diet drinks and MANY other products). Aspartame seems to be at the center of most of the debate centered around diet soda. Anti-Aspartame / Pro-Aspartame
What are your thoughts after doing some homework? Interested in hearing your thoughts and experiences. Please post to comments, if you care to.