I'd like to dispute the wholesome ingredients and great taste claims...

Wow, marketing built right into a reply...

"Great taste. No calories. Wholesome ingredients. How could you drink too much?" said Diana Garza, the communications director of Coca-Cola North America.

My sister-in-law isn't named Amanda but they have the same horrible habit. She drinks Diet Mountain Dew all day. She can't go to a relative or friend's house without bringing her own supply along. She won't drink water or any other liquid and she wonders why she's on a bazillion different medications for this and that. Yet tell her that she should be drinking water instead and she'll tell you there's nothing wrong with what's doing. Idiot.

I drink a LOT of Diet Coke every day, but nowhere near 12 cans' worth. Still, I nearly burst out laughing at "Wholesome ingredients? How could you drink too much?" Please, megacorporations, could you just not blatantly insult our intelligence quite so much?

@reeg2:

For real...what's wholesome about:

Carbonated Water
Caramel Color
Aspartame
Phosphoric Acid
Potassium Benzoate (to protect taste)
Natural Flavors
Citric Acid
Caffeine

Well...maybe the water.

I had a friend who lived almost exclusively on Diet Coke and chocolate cake, and she died of brain cancer at age 29. Maybe there's no connection, but you know there is that FDA warning that aspartame causes cancer in lab animals. Why risk your brain? Don't overdo the diet soda.

This guy at my job drinks a 2 liter bottle of diet coke every day, during the work day.

WHOLESOME? Hardly.

I drink way too much Diet Coke. Yesterday I had 5 12-oz. cans. I'm trying to cut back and drink more water. Much better for you, and cheaper, too.

If I had to choose, I'd go with 12 cans of soda over 3 or 4 super mega ultimate Starbucks expressos or whatever else down there costs $5+ a drink, or over 3 or 4 energy drinks a day.

"Great taste. No calories. Wholesome ingredients. How could you drink too much?" said Diana Garza moments before lighting a cigar with a severed baby's arm clutching a wad of $100 bills.

Still, I guess it's better than drinking 12 cups of coffee a day, which, given most people's frequency to carry around those gargantuan dunkin' donuts coffee cups, is pretty commonplace.

I got addicted to Vanilla Coke (RIP) back in college [but it was still only a bottle a week or so]. I never understood how people could drink Diet Coke. I'd rather drink water than the aspartame.

I've cut back on my soda intake (maybe one or two a month). When I need a carbonated fix, I drink a little fruit juice mixed with seltzer water. I get fizzy, but very little sugar.

12 beers a day on the other hand, that is a whole different story.

And you wonder why so many people are sick in this country. Could is be the food and drink we're (as a society) consuming? Nah, not likely at all...

Reminds me of the movie "Idiocracy." The government banned water and used some soft drink exclusively. The shit was even in water fountains and farm irrigation systems. The only redeeming thing about it was that it had electrolytes--even though nobody knew what they were.

I'm convinced drinking that much Diet Soda would be hazardous to your health. I used to drink a ton, probably 6+ cans a day of Diet Dew or Vault Zero for the past few years. In the last 8 months or so I would get muscle twitches everywhere, above my eye, randomly on my arms and legs, it was incredibly annoying. In researching muscle spasms I happened by and article on aspartame asserting that it was damaging to the human neurological system. I stopped drinking diet soda flat out and low and behold within a month the spasms had ceased.

To test my theory a few weeks later I started drinking Vault Zero again, within days I slowly started to experience the spasms again. I now drink water and coffee. If I have to have my soda fix its one made with sugar (none of this corn BS) usually Mexican Coke or something from Jones. While not scientifically conclusive I'm personally convinced that aspartame indeed does have an adverse affect on the human neurological systems. What really long term exposure to the substance could cause I don't know, I'm certainly not going to continue to use it to find out.

I drink probably the equal to it in Diet Sundrop. And I've been doing it for well over 10 years. Before diet drinks I did the same on regular for 15 years prior. At least two 20 oz during the day and then a two liter at night. I don't drink water except during daily exercise. Is it healthy? No. Do I care? No

Mmmm, aspartame and Potassium Benzoate. Remember the good 'ol days when you could go to the local farmer's market and get those freshly grown and wholesome?

A girl in one of my college classes ended up in the hospital after drinking a 24-can case of dr. pepper in 2 days. Just sayin'.

I have a friend that was just in the hospital last week with stomach pains. Turns out all that Dr. Pepper he was drinking was eating away at the lining in his stomach, and now he has to lay off the soda.

Yeah but diet soda is part of so many healthy diets:

"Yeah I'll have the double bacon cheesburger, biggie fries, and a diet coke."

Yes friends, the brain needs at least 2 things to operate. Oxygen and SUGAR (well glucose anyway)

How can these people drink that much -liquid-, nevermind diet coke.

144 oz? Jeez, do they spend half their lives in the bathroom?

Drinking lots of caffeinated soda (diet or otherwise) can also give you cravings (like most anything with caffeine). This is why it's generally a good idea to try to avoid soda all together when you're dieting or even just trying to eat healthy.

This woman probably doesn't get hungry all the time though. Her tummy is full of bone rotting soda.

I try to limit my soda consumption to one can a day but my goodness, if I can tell the difference in the color of my teeth when I drink more than one a day, imagine the tooth color of a 144 ouncer! If she even has any left. Don't people clean their toilets and marinate meat with soda pop?

Yeah, that "wholesome" bit is a load of crap. --Anyone who believes that Diet Coke (or any other diet drink, no matter how much I love Diet Pepsi) is "wholesome", probably deserves what they get.

That said, Dr. Katz, there could have been a bit more helpful. --If the soda is harmful for the bones, does she believe that extra calcium would help compensate? That would help increase her standing in my eyes.

Just thinking about drinking that much soda makes me feel gross.

Plus, diet soda tastes disgusting.

@macdude22: do you have a link to that article? that sounds interesting

@mopar_man: Water? Like, out the toilet?

But Diet Coke's got electrolytes.

My dentist told me that the carbonation process is what makes all fizzy drinks, even sparkling mineral water, extremely acidic and very very bad for teeth and bones.

"Great taste. No calories. Wholesome ingredients. How could you drink too much?" said Diana Garza...

Umm...didn't a woman die from drinking too much water a little while ago after a radio contest?

If you can drink too much water you can drink too much of anything!

Kind of on-topic, kinda off...a couple years ago I'll never forget seeing an extremely large man at a Wendy's with the biggest fucking tankard (best word I can think of to describe it) to hold soda I've ever seen. He waddled over to the fountain machine, and got extremely pissed when it sputtered and stopped dispensing Coke (umm, not diet) after he filled it about half-way.

I still think the staff saw him trying to fill his "bucket-with-handle" and turned off the damn tap. It was ridiculous.

From the article:

"If anything goes wrong, I will just grab a diet soda and it's all better."

You know what's worse, though? Wholesome. I can't freaking believe it. I would like Diana Garza to explain to us how things like aspartame, potassium benzoate, and caffeine are "conducive to sound health or well-being."

Personally, I don't even need the dictionary definition to tell you that Diet Coke is just as "wholesome" as it is "organic."

Here's what happens to your body if you drink a coke right now:
http://tinyurl.com/33hjnr

Granted that's for a normal Coke, but even if you take out the sugar part, it's still pretty awful. And I'm not exactly sold on Aspartame being "wholesome" anyway.

"Umm...didn't a woman die from drinking too much water a little while ago after a radio contest?"

It's more so the high volume in very short amount of time which causes death by too much water.

in this case, it's 144oz over 12-16 hours.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_overdose

I've known people that drink huge amounts of coke/pepsi. They tend to get kidney stones. Not good.

I used to be a 5+ can per day Diet Coke drinker, my wife was drinking about the same amount of Coke daily. She read an article about caffiene addiciton so we both decided to cut down. I drink 1-2 cans per day now and drink a lot more water. It's saved us a few $$ by not buying as much soda as we used to.

I drink 2 liters a day from school through work. I also drink a lot of water, but I'm hooked on Coke like it's still cocaine.

That's astounding. I used to drink soda at lunch most days, but cut back as part of a general attempt at eating a slightly more healthy diet. I now drink about 1-2 sodas per month. I can't even finish an entire one in a day as the chemicals and carbonation start irritating my throat.

However, I work in computers. A substantial minority of programmers fit the stereotype of drinking 2-liter bottles of Jolt or Mountain Dew or whatever every day. It's why they have such awesome physiques.

Hell no it ain't healthy. When I was in my 20's i worked in an auto parts salvage yard. At the time I was a soda junkie, consuming about the same amount as the person in this story. At the time there weren't nearly as many warnings as now (this was 15 years ago).

Now what do I have to show for my soda consumption(habit). Well despite having tried to take good care of my teeth they a wreck. I have had dentists flat out tell me I am a liar when I say I brush twice a day. I'm also overweight, get headaches without adequate caffeine during a day and have had kidney stones. I have permanent splits in the corners of my mouth that are aggravated badly by drinking Dew (my drink of choice since i first tasted it at Taco Bell in the early 80's) no doctor or dentist has ever been able explain these splits.

Thank goodness they are pulling the #$@#$ soda vending machines out of schools. I would say my significant habit lasted for 7 years. After that i have tapered off and now drink a few sodas a week.

I had a coworker who drank Diet Cokes all day at work, and she contantly complained about severe migraines. She would even leave work early some days, that's how bad they were, yet her hand was never far from a can or bottle of Diet Coke.

I guess it never occurred to her to equate her migranes and poor health the chemicals she was putting into her body day after day.

I bet Amanda Sanchez will be suing Coca Cola in a few decades when she's got severe osteoporosis. "They said it was wholesome!"

and @Tallanvor: they were discussing this (or a similar) study on the radio recently; regardless of calcium intake, drinking more than one or two colas a week had a noticeable impact on bone density. Apparently it's the phosphoric acid that causes the most problems. (And that's all the science I can bring to the discussion, unfortunately.)

And I was drinking a Diet Coke when I started the read this. Thanks for ruining my morning Consumerist. I think I'll make a pot of coffee instead.

Hmm..i am by no means doubting that Diet Coke is bad for some. Let me see..i am 24 years old. My dad has drank NOTHING but Diet Coke since as long as i remember. No water, juice..NOTHING. Diet Coke only. Before that he drank Dr. Pepper. With as much coke as my dad drinks, he should be on the board of directors because he made that company a small fortune!! He is in the worst health of anyone i know. Anytime i find out something bad has happened, i immidiately think its about my dad. He is about 315lbs. and gets very edgy if he does not get his Diet Coke. I have tried to get him to stop, but he says "gotta die of something right"? What an answer dad.

Why is this national news? This screams local news "Channel X Target Investigation" that airs at 4:30 on Friday afternoon.

Next up we'll be seeing the account of her terrible withdrawal from small amounts of caffeine, as The Onion so masterfully detailed in Woman's Day writer recounts own harrowing battle with caff...

@Red_Eye: The splits in the corner of your mouth might be angular cheilitis, aggravated by moisture and/or sugar, or by vitamin deficiency. Try taking an iron/B12 supplement, apply clotrimazole, discontinue using chapstick as that can cause reinfection, and also boil your toothbrush (and anything else you repeatedly put in your mouth) after each use. I'm not a doctor, but that's what works for me.

Also, the "Wholesome ingredients" line is like something out of an Onion article.

Correlation is not causation. Knowing someone who a) drinks a lot of soda, and b) has some/a lot of health problems, is not strong enough to link the two.

BTW, here's Wikipedia's take (with references) on the effect of phosphoric acid on bone structure. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosphoric_acid#Biological_ef...

I drink a lot of Diet Coke at the office, but I self-limit by drinking one 16.9oz bottle of water between each 12oz can. And yes, I have to use the bathroom pretty often. It's an excuse to get up and stretch!

Wow, that is a lot of urban legends. So, here's the science:

Any acid that you put in your body, like the acid in soda or juice, is buffered by proteins and ions in your blood. Once you go beyond that buffering capacity, then you might start to leech calcium from your bones. Over a long period of time, I could see this becoming an issue, but only if you're over 50. Beyond that, the acid might give you a tummyache.

Caffeine comes in a few different types. The caffeine in coffee and soda is different than the caffeine in tea, for example. The caffeine in soda is a diuretic, a chemical that makes your body lose water. That's why doctor's say that the fluid gained from coffee and caffeinated beverages doesn't count, because you just pee out everything that you take in. Beyond that, caffeine increases your blood flow and metabolism, and helps you to stay awake during 8am classes.

Aspartame (brand name Nutrasweet) is an artificial sweetener composed of two amino acids, aspartate and phenyalanine. Neither of these amino acids are harmful to your average person, and they are found in all sorts of proteins that we would consume otherwise. However, these amino acids are connected with a methyl ester linkage, which becomes methanol if the sweetener degrades in the body. Methanol is toxic and its physiological breakdown products are carcinogenic. What causes the breakdown of aspartame? Heat (like the summer sun or your warm belly) and acid (like the acid in soda or the acid in yer gullet). Now, studies have shown that aspartame doesn't directly cause cancer (phew!). However, the breakdown products of methanol (formaldehyde and formic acid) do end up in the brain, liver and kidneys (that's bad).

It doesn't really matter much, though. Aspartame has been off patent for a few years now. So, most companies are switching over to sucralose. And you don't even want to know how that stuff is made.

Drink water. Drink tea. Drink juice or milk or beer. If you have to use a calorie-free sweetener, try stevia powder. It is "all-natural" and doesn't cause any know health issues. They've been using it in Japan for almost 40 years.

OK, I drink and have drunk way more than that (twice that daily) since about 1975 or so. I'm not dead yet.

Aspartame and brain cancer? What study showed that? Aspartame is one of the most studied food additives ever.

To the person who had a friend who lived on chocolate cake and diet soda and got brain cancer? Do you think there may have been something else going on there? Just maybe?

As for bone density, would a piece of cheese a day cancel out the diet soda effect? Or maybe a Tums?

That's an interesting study on the Wikipedia, lihtox. Caffeine might be a bigger problem, so all you tea and coffee drinkers should beware!