Stop drinking pop, they say, and you'll lose so much weight in a short amount of time! You'll have better teeth and stronger bones! Less headaches! More energy!

Well, I've tried, and all I have to say is that I love the taste of sweet, sweet aspartame way too much to give it up.

A solid can or bottle of Diet Coke is always there for you when you're having a rough time. The sweet gulp of a Mountain Dew or Dr. Pepper sends a shiver of renewed energy up and down your body. And on a hot day, a root beer poured over ice cream cures the weary soul.

Scientific studies that correlate drinking pop and bad health effects receive an unnecessary amount of media attention. According to a WebMD article, a researcher conducted a study that suggested no-calorie sweeteners found in diet pop increase appetite. Regarding the media attention that her study received, the researcher said: “Frankly, we were stunned. It really was a small study.”

Other simple foods, beverages, and daily activities can also give us headaches, weight gain, increased appetite, kidney stones, diabetes, you name it. Wellness Mama even tells us that "the water used in soda is just simple tap water and can contain chemicals like chlorine, fluoride and traces of heavy metals."

Well then. If drinking pop is bad because of its tap water content, then it looks like we shouldn't use tap water ever again either.

So is the media telling us drinking pop is bad, or is pop indeed a weight-gaining, Satan-inducing, early-death substance?

The answer to that question seems more like a personal choice. And the next time you see me, I'll have a Diet Coke in my hand, enjoying the taste of contaminated tap water, phosphoric acid, and a handful of bad health effects I can find just about anywhere else.