What kind of damage does Diet Soda pop do?

To me, Aspartame is poison. I stick to natural sweetners like agave or honey, or rarely, stevia/sucralose. Don't EVER bake with sucralose/Splenda. It turns into a toxic substance at high temps.

Either way, it's your health. It's up to you if you want to trust it to some chemical cooked up in a lab. I mean, we all know the food manufacturers have our best interests in mind, right??

tooth enamel damage and decrease in benefical bacetria numbers in you digestion tract which may cause intolerance toward dairy and so on...

An overdose of certain artificial sweeteners can cause severe neurological symptoms and even permanent damage, I think also seizures and coma are a possibility. I forget what the OD dose was, but I do remember thinking that I couldn't consume that much artificial sweetener over the course of an entire day let alone in a short enough time to OD.

Go to Google
Type in: Google scholar, and hit enter
Type in: side effects artificial sweetener, hit enter
You should get pages upon pages of various scientific articles, and most of them should be related to your keywords. I recommend reading only the studies that use double-blind. After much reading you should be in a much better position to determine for yourself if diet soda poses any significant health risks.

I tried it, and every study I'm reading says no side effects were detected, except for a study involving headaches. Then it said that a small subset of people may have increased headaches from aspartame consumption.

I'm going to ignore the debate about the chemicals - because no one really knows if Diet Pepsi killed anyone haha.

However, since this is a site focused on losing weight - it has been proven that diet soda spurs your appetite. If you can keep the cravings in check, then have at it. If it causes you to miss your daily target, then skip it.

The American Dietetic Association (ADA) conducted an in-depth analysis of common questions and concerns about aspartame using its “evidence analysis” (EAL) approach in 2008. For example, some have claimed that low- and no-calorie sweeteners like aspartame could have a “rebound” effect that leads people to have more of an appetite or to eat more food and that low- and no-calorie sweeteners actually “make” people gain weight. The analysis also evaluated whether evidence existed to support suggestions found on the Internet that aspartame has a negative impact on health. Following a rigorous analysis of relevant human studies, which included taking into account factors such as size and quality of each study and potential bias, the review concludes that, media speculation aside, using aspartame as a sweetener has no effect on appetite or food intake. The same evaluation reaffirmed what regulators and health authorities have said many times before: aspartame is not associated with adverse effects for the population at large.

Key findings from the ADA’s evidence-based analysis of aspartame research include:
“There is good evidence that aspartame does not affect appetite or food intake.” This consensus statement was given a “grade 1,” the highest grade in the EAL scale.
“Using aspartame in the context of a reduced calorie diet does not affect weight and may be associated with increased weight loss in adults.” This body of research also was given a grade 1, the highest grade in the EAL scale.
The committee evaluated peer-reviewed research from the scientific literature on this topic and concluded, “Aspartame consumption is not associated with adverse effects in the general population.” Once again, the expert work group found that the support for this statement is grade 1, the highest grade in the EAL scale.
The ADA managed all aspects of the process, including selection of research analysts and expert work group members. The evaluation was funded jointly by ADA and Ajinomoto. For access to the report, and to review all of the questions along with access to summaries of the research visit the ADA Evidence Analysis Library web site, accessible via www.eatright.org.

I thought that diet soda was doing nothing and would help in my dieting. Then I gave it up for lent, and lost 15 pounds in 6 weeks. No other change in diet or exercise. I was amazed and appalled. I have not drank it since. I have no idea what it really does to your body but the proof that it was inhibiting weight loss is there.

I'm going to ignore the debate about the chemicals - because no one really knows if Diet Pepsi killed anyone haha.

However, since this is a site focused on losing weight - it has been proven that diet soda spurs your appetite. If you can keep the cravings in check, then have at it. If it causes you to miss your daily target, then skip it.