Diet sodas are marketed towards people who want to lose weight and use less amount of sugar to stay fit as diet sodas are sugar-free, artificially sweetened carbonate drinks.

Different artificial sweeteners are utilized to enhance flavour of diet soda and some even use sugar with other artificial sweeteners. About the taste of these drinks opinions are mixed. The Genral Opinion is that Sugar drink is the best in terms of taste. Many people say that diet drinks leaves a bad taste in mouth after use. Others feel that diet soda has no aftertaste and that drinks sweetened by high fructose corn syrup an over-sweet aftertaste.

The first known artificial sweeteners were cyclamates. Many had the opinion that these sodas had a better taste than diet sodasthat followed. Around 1970 the FDA put a ban on the use of cyclamates in the US. Cancer in lab animals was caused by them. Cyclamates are used in some countries especially in diet soda even with that information.

Then American manufacturers began using saccharin. But saccharin was believed by consumers to have a chemical aftertaste. Coca-Cola produced Tab by suppling a little amount of sugar. Ban was put on saccharin as a carcinogen by FDA in 1977 but soon the ban was suspended after completing he studies on it. This was lifted in 1991, but nearly every diet soda had shifted to using aspartame which is now the most common sweetener.

Two new sweeteners have come on the market, sucralose called Splenda and Sunett or Ace K used with small amounts of aspartame, and other artificial sweeteners rather than alone. These are applied by low budget beverage producers.Just recently sweetener is believed by consumers to be the reason of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome type illnesses.

Most of the users say that taste of the drinks with these sweeteners are alike natural sugar.Critics are not satisfied with the taste of artificial sweeteners and also not familiar with the drawbacks of using it for a long term.

Along with health concerns of sugar substitutes and over dose of caffeine benefits of diet sodas as a weight loss tool has disappeared.

Diet soda may result into weight loss for the consumers who drink large amounts of regular soda.But animal studies disclosed that artificial sweeteners cause weight gain. The sweetness causes an insulin response,resulting blood sugar to store in tissues but because blood sugar does not increase with artificial sugars, hypoglycemia can occur and people intake more at the next meal. Rats given sweeteners has increased caloric intake causing gain in body weight and fat. 

So, the jury on how helpful diet soda is to losing weight is still out.