http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/32/4/688.full
http://www.colgate.com/en/us/oc/oral-health/basics/nutrition...
A better alternative, though still exacerbates acid reflux I believe, is flavored club soda like la croix. After about a week of drinking it, lime la croix tastes like sprite. Then if you have a real sprite you'll gag. Plus it gives you an excuse to act all fancy.
I should probably add that the difference between diet soda and flavored club soda are the flavoring agents.
With la croix, "The flavors are derived from the natural essence oils extracted from the named fruit used in each of our LaCroix flavors. There are no sugars or artificial ingredients contained in, nor added to, these extracted flavors."
http://www.lacroixwater.com/nutritional-faqs/
However I suspect drinking carbonated beverages in general is worse for you than straight water, of course.
The nature of the link is not established, but the authors speculate that diet soda consumption may lead to increased consumption of high-sugar beverages or food either directly by causing sugar cravings or indirectly by impairing the ability to gauge whether one has eaten enough.
Or it could be the other way around. Suppose you are consuming a high sugar diet, both from consuming high sugar soda and eating high sugar foods. You are fat, and you know you are heading toward diabetes. You want to start taking steps to avert that.
The easiest step to take is to replace regular soda with diet soda some or all of the time. For many people that is as simple as inserting the single word "diet" into their order at the fast food place.
Thus, I think that you are going to see correlations between diet soda and various bad things because people who have these bad things or are worried about developing these bad things switch to diet soda.
> Diet soda causes insulin resistance, dental erosion, and I believe acid reflux
Artificial sweeteners have also been implicated in fundamental changes in gut bacteria that can lead to obesity...
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/artificial-sweeten...
Don't drink any soda or juice for a few months, and you may be surprised how sickly sweet it is. I would spit out diet pepsi at this point.
Once you get your sense on track for a reasonable diet, I find it helps with making other good choices. Like ice cream... too sweet, easy to pass up. Whereas former fat me would eat it every night.
It's a triumph of marketing that having a big-ass glass of soda (free refills!) with most meals isn't seen as just as indulgent/gross as eating a couple big handfuls of candy or having a bowl of ice cream with every meal, when in fact it's probably _worse_, since at least chocolate & nuts or decent ice cream will have _some_ redeeming qualities (vitamins). Yet no-one's going to buy a tub of Ben & Jerry's every morning to have at their desk at work—they'd be too ashamed (maybe at home, but not among co-workers). A 32+ ounce cup of soda, though? Sure. Very common.
To anyone looking to kick the habit: I found that even _unflavored_ sparkling water or club soda just about totally eliminated any immediate desire to have a sugary soda. The carbonation bite was the main thing I craved, turns out, not so much the sweetness. These days I mostly drink plain water, but I went through tons of that stuff when I was quitting, and I think it was a big help.
Of course, diet pepsi is another matter.
Your personal anecdote is not a rigorous scientific study.