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Comment by 6t6t6 | Hacker News Reader

I really don't understand the need for "diet" soft drinks.

I mean, soft drinks are ok, to drink sometimes. But if someone is drinking enough soft drink to worry about the amount of sugar intake, then he is drinking too much sodas. Soft drinks are like "light" cigarettes.

What is the problem about drinking water?

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Flavored soft drinks taste better to some people than water. That's why people drink them more.

I once made fun of a friend for drinking a "diet" soft drink. Turns out he was diabetic and couldn't drink regular ones. I stopped making fun of people drinking diet soft drinks after that.

I agree though that water is the best :-)

I was not making fun about people drinking soft drinks. My point is that sweet drinks are unhealthy, no matter witch kind of sweetener they use. For me, the fact that there's people that ONLY drink soft-drinks (including fruit juices) is quite shocking. But anyway, seeing the amount of downvotes I got, I guess I touched some kind if american social tabu.

The need is for the caffeine--the easiest way to get off the diet soda train is green tea, and to ease off the caffeine from there. Others just don't find water satisfying for other reasons, which I can relate to. I tend to drink a 60/40% mix of seltzer and fruit juice, which after a week or so adapting tastes surprisingly sweet. In any case, there are options beyond water that aren't all bad.

Plenty of popular sodas are not caffeinated, so that's probably not the reason.

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