When I walk into a restaurant or fast food joint, one of the first things I look for is if they sell Coke or Pepsi products. Food places are either one or the other, and have a variety other drinks funded by the same company.

When I walked into the Wendy’s with my friend sometime in February, I took my normal route to look at the drinks to see which product they supported. I walked up to the cash register and gave the cashier my order. She asked if I wanted a drink with that, and as soon as I gave my answer, my friend beside me took no time to try and cover their disgust. For, I had just ordered, a diet drink.

Ever since I first  tasted the forbidden nectar that is a diet drink, I have been hooked. However, the downfall is that ever since, I have been faced by the aggression of many.

No, I don’t drink diet drinks because I am on a diet, or am trying to be healthy, or because I’m trying to lose weight. I drink the hated diet beverage for no other reason than that I enjoy the taste more than that of the regular version.

There are a variety of reasons why people are pitted against these drinks, many of which, tend to be untrue.

One reason that some people think that diet drinks are horrible, is because they are convinced that they cause cancer. According to mayoclinic.org, “The artificial sweeteners and other chemicals currently used in diet soda are safe for most people, and there’s no credible evidence that these ingredients cause cancer.” Thus proving that diet drinks do not cause cancer.

I have also heard that people have been inclined to think that diet drinks don’t have as much fizz. A study done at Illinois State University proved that Diet Coke specifically, produced more fizz than its counterpart, regular Coke.

Since I haven’t always been an avid fan of diet drinks, I have tasted both and can make an educated statement when I say that the fizz seems to be pretty similar, if not more fizz in the diet drink.

After all this time drinking diet sodas, whenever I branch out and try regular again, on the rare occasion, it tastes and feels like I’m drinking straight syrup. This doesn’t mean that I judge other people who like it.

I think that it’s great for people to like regular sodas. Please, go ahead and enjoy your carbonated beverage, but try and grant us diet pop preferers the same courtesy.