> > Brunnen-"Does anyone *really* prefer toxic
> >carcinogenic chemicals to a few extra calories?"G
>
> Surprisingly enough, yes. And I'd be the first to admit that I was amazed the first day I realized that.
>
> Believe it or not, I actually *like* the taste of Diet Coke, and now prefer it to regular Coke. I also like Diet Sprite much better than regular Sprite. In fact, I find it hard to drink the regular versions of those two drinks now, because I find them too sicky-sweet.

Ditto. I quite dislike soda drinks in general, but I feel free to sample those products that have an almost iconic stature in western culture. For me to be honest with myself, Mountain Dew actually doesn't taste bad, which scares the heck outta me because I certainly don't like its colour. And Diet Pepsi à la Aspartame actually does seem better than Pepsi Classic. Can't say the same of Coke in any version, though...

My main reason for staying far away from soft drinks is that where I live, there is more carbonation than water or sugar in the can/bottle. Seriously, it really seems that way. It goes down burning my throat, it's like drinking carbolic acid straight from the bottle, it doesn't matter if it's MD or DrP or Coke or Sprite or Fresca... they're all like that here. I wonder whether the bottlers specially tank up on carbon dioxide gas whenever they prepare a beverage shipment to Quebec! Strange, I don't recall having this problem down stateside.