go diet. pop.

i'm tired of this debate over whether diet soda is going to fry your brain, give you cancer, and all things unnatural.

check out this page from the National Cancer Institute. Here are the key points:

A study of about half a million people, published in 2006, compared people who drank aspartame-containing beverages with those who did not. Results of the study showed that increasing levels of consumption were not associated with any risk of lymphomas, leukemias, or brain cancers in men or women. (Question 2)

Researchers examined the relationship between aspartame intake and 1,888 lymphomas or leukemias and 315 malignant brain cancers among the participants of the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study from 1995 until 2000. Development of these cancers was not associated with estimated aspartame consumption, refuting a recent animal study with positive findings for lymphomas and leukemias and also contradicting claims regarding brain cancer risk. (Questions 3 and 8)

A typical can of soda pop has 1/4 cup of sugar - about 140 calories. and you're only getting sugar - nothing else beneficial. at least orange juice will give you vitamins, minerals, etc.

And for the picture...well, diet soda floats and regular sinks. has to do with the density of sugar versus aspartame.