"It won't make a difference"

[WaywardTraveller]

My DP has a diet coke addiction. He gets through 6-8 cans a day. Beyond the expense of this (and we do not have joint finances or children, so I have less say on this front), I have raised the following concerns:

1. Surely it can't be good for him, guzzling all that chemically, artificial sweetener laden crap every day? - he claims there is no conclusive study yet that proves that diet drinks are bad for your health.

1. The amount of waste these 6-8 cans plus their plastic wrapping creates on a daily basis is, to my mind, extraordinary. He must be one of Coca-Cola's best individual consumer customers. Surely cutting back on the coke would make an (admittedly tiny) dent in the company’s revenue, with a knock on effect on demand and supply? – He says that changing his personal consumer habits “won’t make a difference” while fossil fuel combustion and the like continues. He points out that my car (he doesn’t drive) is far more damaging environmentally than his diet coke. And he finds the idea that his giving up coke could have any effect whatsoever on Coca-Cola laughable.

So… AIBU to worry about this? And if IANBU, how can I counter his arguments? Just to be clear, I will not LTB over this.

There is plenty of evidence to suggest that it is bad for his health. For one coke is very corrosive and will be doing lots of damage to his teeth (suggest drinking through a straw if he doesn’t already).

Then there are the effects of caffeine which is bad in large quantities.

The more problematic thing here is his addictive tendency. What’s to say he won’t find himself addicted to something worse in the future? If he’s incapable of realising that this is bad for him and cutting down he is either stupid or has problems with addiction that may turn into something more serious or may be a result of a personality disorder where addiction is a symptom.

Surely cutting back on the coke would make an (admittedly tiny) dent in the company’s revenue, with a knock on effect on demand and supply?

I’m a Diet Coke addict. If you said that to me I’d laugh in your face.

Why is it greed to drink 6-8 cans of diet cola?

Because anything unhealthy should be an occasional treat only, not an everyday part of your diet. It’s greedy if you have treats multiple times every day. Regardless of whether you’re having coke, chocolate, crisps, biscuits, whatever - treating yourself 8x a day is just disgusting.

I’m amazed this is still going. Should I start a thread saying people should give up tea? It’s unnecessary and anymore than 1 every now and then could be a harmful addiction. Not to mention all the milk that goes with it. I mean think of the people who can’t even function till they’ve had a cup of tea - that’s not healthy.
I bought a range of flavoured cokes today in hope of upsetting coke haters who are judging me.

@LaurieMarlow

Yes but it's not as good as it used to be as they've added sweeteners as well as the sugar and it's now a little bit too fizzy and slightly less fruity. Still nice though

@LaurieMarlow

Oh I've been judged for the amount of Fentimens I can drink on a night out, make no mistake