Reply #24: Back in the 1970's I started reading about

[SheilaT]

research that indicated people who drank diet soft drinks did NOT reduce the overall calories in their diets, and in fact were somewhat more inclined to consume extra sugar in one form or another. Plus, around then there was the aspartame scare -- that it caused cancer or some such. So I stopped drinking diet sodas and went back to the regular ones.

About twenty years ago I stopped drinking soft drinks altogether, with very rare exceptions. I have maybe one soft drink every two or three months at this point. I do find that fizzy water quenches my thirst better than still water, so I tend to buy and drink unflavored, unsweetened carbonated water.