From what I have read, our bodies don't recognize sugar substitutes as food and convert them into fat, so diet beverages in the long run make you gain weight. Of course the diet industry doesn't want us to know that since it would cut into their profits.

What is likely happening is the natural tendency to balance something sweet with something else that's not sweet, leading to a lot of unconscious snacking. Another thing at work might be the body responding to something sweet with hunger to prevent the sugar spike and crash that's really not going to come.

That's the prevailing theory for why people who drink a lot of diet drinks but don't particularly pay that much attention to their snacking habits are gaining weight on them.

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Sucralose is an artificial sweetener and sugar substitute. The majority of ingested sucralose is not broken down by the body, so it is noncaloric.[4] In the European Union, it is also known under the E number E955. Sucralose is about 320 to 1,000 times sweeter than sucrose,[5] three times as sweet as aspartame, twice as sweet as saccharin and three times as sweet as acesulfame potassium. It is stable under heat and over a broad range of pH conditions. Therefore, it can be used in baking or in products that require a longer shelf life. The commercial success of sucralose-based products stems from its favorable comparison to other low-calorie sweeteners in terms of taste, stability, and safety.[6] Common brand names of sucralose-based sweeteners are Splenda, Zerocal, Sukrana, SucraPlus, Candys, Cukren, and Nevella. Canderel Yellow also contains Sucralose, but the original Canderel and Green Canderel do not. ....

Sucralose is found in many food and beverage products, used because it is a no-calorie sweetener, does not promote dental cavities,[15] is as safe for consumption by diabetics and nondiabetics,[16][17] and does not affect insulin levels.[18] Sucralose is used as a replacement for, or in combination with, other artificial or natural sweeteners such as aspartame, acesulfame potassium or high-fructose corn syrup. Sucralose is used in products such as candy, breakfast bars and soft drinks. It is also used in canned fruits wherein water and sucralose take the place of much higher calorie corn syrup-based additives. Sucralose mixed with maltodextrin or dextrose (both made from corn) as bulking agents is sold internationally by McNeil Nutritionals under the Splenda brand name. In the United States and Canada, this blend is increasingly found in restaurants, in yellow packets, in contrast to the blue packets commonly used by aspartame and the pink packets used by those containing saccharin sweeteners; in Canada, though, yellow packets are also associated with the SugarTwin brand of cyclamate sweetener. ....

A Duke University animal study funded by the Sugar Association[30] found evidence that doses of Splenda between 100 and 1000 mg/kg BW/day, containing sucralose at 1.1 to 11 mg/kg BW/day, fed to rats reduced fecal microflora, increased the pH level in the intestines, contributed to increases in body weight, and increased levels of P-glycoprotein (P-gp).[31] These effects have not been reported in humans.[5] An expert panel, including scientists from Duke University, Rutgers University, New York Medical College, Harvard School of Public Health, and Columbia University reported in Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology that the Duke study was "not scientifically rigorous and is deficient in several critical areas that preclude reliable interpretation of the study results". ....

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I love those things and drink at least one a day. About $1 each but cheaper than DH's beer which he drinks at least one per day! Feel fine with them and I think they've helped me lose 25 lb over the past year. Some of the flavors are even better than real (non-diet) Coke which I used to crave. Giant brand Wild Cherry is superb, hard to believe something that good has no calories. Of course it's probably unhealthy.

So it might be about the same, but sounds like it's not "zero" in everything.

so that sounds rather nasty to me.

to make it sound like a food source.

I've never seen it in packets, only as an ingredient. It's usually in combination with other artificial sweetners.

Filtered for sand and rust and lime and oh so good.

Even w/o sugar, the fizz eats the enamel off your teeth. I'm addicted to punch-flavored Vitamin Water. I figured out that it's really just like taking a vitamin pill and drinking 20 oz. of sugar water. Bad news.

Add some lemon juice to it if you need flavor.

Or try one of these:

They're $50-$70 for the stand, and you occasionally replace a small canister of CO2 for about $18 (take in the old one to recycle for discount). You can fizz plain water and drink it as club soda, or add your own amount of flavoring or their syrups or any soda syrup you like - I've gotten "gourmet" cola syrup on amazon. A plus on that is you can get syrup made with pure cane sugar and use less of it to cut calories.

I hadn't been a soda drinking since I was a kid. Just didn't care much for the stuff, other than the occasional root beer or cream soda. Zevia happens to have both of those flavors in addition to grape, black cherry, cola and ginger ale.

It's sweetened with stevia, which is a natural sweetener but has 0 calories. The first time I spilled some and it soaked my fingers, I was astonished at how it wasn't sticky whatsoever! It does, however, cause me to have to clear my throat frequently for about 30 minutes after I drink it. Odd.

I don't mind the taste, but I think a soda connoisseur would probably find it quite an adjustment.

It should not cause you to gain weight, and it's so incredibly sweet that you are not getting much in your drink. I don't know much about acesulfame potassium, but it's also been in use for a long time. ironically, I take a potassium pill every day to avoid leg cramps at night.

with a splash of lime juice added to it.

It is just amazingly good and refreshing. It is my beverage of choice.

all the bubbly goodness, none of the heavy schlepping...