when the food has 2 days worth of sodium in it, you get thirsty. Many people don't drink enough water so then your thirsty and have your liter-of-cola and you can down it easily at that point
I'm sadly in the demographic of obscene soda consumption.
By no means am I overweight, more underweight actually, but since probably 12 ive averaged about 6 cans of Coke (Sam's cola ftw) a day. The biggest issue is the teeth wear. I'm 25 now and I only have ~3 or 4 natural teeth, everything else is caps crowns and bridges.
Soda is realistically as damaging as meth just without the psychosis.
My wife had an eating disorder from her teens to her thirties. To get a feeling of being full she would drink diet sodas. It’s a habit she still keeps even though she’s able to eat less restrictively these days.
People with EDs generally don’t have great teeth so she’s always been super paranoid about hers. Her dentist said to counter the acid she should drink with a straw and finish it in one go then wash her mouth with water.
It also depends on area and parenting. When parents let there kids drink sodas to young it implants a dependence. It also has to do with tap water quality.