Up to 14 cans of diet drink a day considered safe for 70kg person, as WHO says sweetener is ‘possibly’ carcinogenic in larger amounts
So maybe the huge worry people had after the news that WHO would classify it as cancerous was a little too much. I think the media could have reported on it in a bit more responsible way.
I'm all for removing toxics from my diet, sure. The thing is, afaik, there is no nutritional function nor benefit to consuming aspartame or for that matter any non-nutritive sweetener. So if it isn't doing anything I need, I'll just skip it. As Michael Pollan said, "Eat Food. Not too much. Mostly Plants."
Nobody drinks diet sodas for the nutrition value. They drink it for the taste.
And there is a benefit in not having sugar. Sugar is far worse. If artificial sweeteners mean you can enjoy the taste of something without sugar, that's healthier. Not nutritious, but healthier. I mean, they're saying up to 14 cans of diet coke a day is fine. But 14 cans of regular coke is 490 freaking grams of sugar and nearly 2000 calories (a pretty typical amount that many folks should have for the entire day). Obesity is a far bigger risk factor for most people.
The anti aspartame thing is just a combination of crackpots, people who have fallen for the "appeal to nature" fallacy, and people who really want everyone to know that they're better than you because they don't drink soda.
You claim to have some clear ideas about why people drink diet sodas. Great. And wish to label me in your own way, not so cool. I was just talking about me, and why this is a non-issue for me. I have a significant educational background in diet and nutrition, and have chosen based on that education to avoid things that are not shown to be helpful, i.e. artificial sweeteners. Personally I happen to like tea, and tisanes, without sweeteners - caloric or non. Turns out tea is the most commonly consumed drink in the world.