Nutrition Forum - Diet Sodas : Okay to Drink If ... ?

All right, I'm sure you've all heard all this stuff about diet sodas and the artificial sweeteners, and their negative effects.

I'm no professional, but summed up, said effects would include increased hunger, which will cause you to eat more (due to consuming the sweet, calorie-lacking substance, and thus your body believes it should be recieving calories when it is not, so it craves more). Also, if I recall correctly the artificial sweeteners will promote the release of insulin, which helps store fat. And, of course, there's the "Oh, I'm drinking Diet Coke, so if I go and have that cheeseburger it'll level it out." I've also heard that the drink can slow down your metabolism, but I'm not sure on that one.

Anyway, due to the reasons stated above, apparently drinkers of diet soda are more likely to become obese than those who drink regular soda.

So, what if you're smart about these things? What if you fight the negative effects brought about by not overindulging on food and by sheer will power?

For example, say I'm to have myself a can of Diet Coke each day, while also doing the following:

-Completely ignoring the cravings brought about by the soda. If my stomach rumbles, I'll get over it. I'll distract myself somehow, and eat as I normally would any other day without cheating.

-Not letting the word "diet" trick me into eating more than I should. I know that what's on my plate is more important than what's NOT in my drink.

-Drinking my can a day at night, after my final meal. Metabolism slows down when you go to sleep anyway; since I'm not eating until breakfast, I do a quick exercise routine when I wake up and then eat.

All my life I rarely drank soda, and just drank water most of the time (with the occasional diet soda here and there, but definitely less of an amount than the average soda drinker). I'm getting sick of it; but, since I was never a big drinker of regular soda, instead of thinking "oh, this diet soda is better for me", I'll be thinking "whoah, this isn't exactly a positive change; I'll have to be more aware of what I'm eating and when".

So, all these things considered, would a can of Diet Coke a day be no threat to my weight? I definitely don't want to put on the pounds that those who are heavy drinkers of diet sodas apparently tend to put on, so I don't want to start drinking the soda until I can get a few opinions on my plan.

Thanks for reading my wall of text, and more information is welcome. :]