Yikes, considering I consume 2 L of Coke Zero every day almost...
[1] https://www.uclahealth.org/news/observational-studies-shed-l....
And if consumption of diet soda correlates with other things, for example an unhealthier diet in general that the person "compensates" for by only drinking diet soda, then it would show up in an observational study even though there's no cause-and-effect.
But remember, diet soda is 99+% water. Really the only hypothetical problems with diet soda could be 1) artificial sweetener chemicals in the body triggering cancer or other ailments, and 2) artificial sweeteners triggering a glucose-like response triggering weight gain. But studies with rats indicate 1) shouldn't be an issue at anywhere near the concentrations in diet soda, and 2) seems rather far-fetched.
It's not what I do personally but I also don't judge, because scientifically, it's basically just water.
Do you have a problem with somebody drinking 2 cans' worth of LaCroix in the morning, 1 at lunch, 2 in the afternoon, and 1 at dinner? Why should that suddenly become "ridiculous" because an eyedropper amount of caramel color, caffeine, and artificial sweetener get added?
We're eating and drinking acidic things all day long, orange juice and grapefruits and the rest. And diet soda doesn't adhere in a layer to your teeth, the way things like orange juice and sugary Coke do.
Our enamel repairs itself through our saliva. Otherwise you'd never be able to drink a lemonade or eat a grapefruit. The acidity of Coke Zero is a nonissue in the context of a normal diet.
(Not to mention that flavored carbonated waters like La Croix and Bubly are also acidic. Bubly grapefruit flavor is pH 3.86, while Coke Zero is 3.18, from a quick Google.)
Sugar, and the addition to things that taste like it is far worse than we understand. It seems to make people do crazy things.
Some people like flavored/bubbly water over plain flat water. Some people do Perrier, some do LaCroix, some do Coke Zero. All of these are essentially nutritionally identical.
Really just a question of whether you think the artificial sweetener has an adverse effect on your health, which in these quantities it doesn't seem to. And if you want caffeine -- the caffeine in a liter of Coke Zero is the same as a single cup of coffee, so this is the same as a fairly normal 2 cups of coffee per day.
> "There was a 23% higher risk of developing kidney stones in the highest category of consumption of sugar-sweetened cola compared with the lowest category"
> "Artificially sweetened sodas were marginally associated with kidney stones, with an inverse relation for colas and a direct relation for noncolas."
So no worries about your Coke Zero giving you kidney stones. The culprit seems to be the fructose, rather, which Coke Zero doesn't contain:
> "Higher consumption of sugar-sweetened soda was associated with a higher incidence of kidney stones, which may be because of the fructose content. Fructose has been shown to increase the urinary excretion of calcium, oxalate, and uric acid, thus increasing the risk of stones."
Some "medium" sodas at fast food joints are over a liter, these days.
People who drink a lot of soda, in the US, really DRINK A LOT OF SODA.
Consider also that it's been the norm for years, in the US, to have free refills on soda at restaurants (with waiters eagerly topping them off constantly) and that many fast food places have self-serve soda that's either explicitly or de facto unlimited refill, if you go inside to eat rather than using the drive-through.
"Well, it's roughly the size of a two year old child, if the child were liquefied."
Google "Mountain Dew Mouth".