[apillar]

I thinks some of it might be more mental rather than physical...Example: “The old joke about the fat person who walks into McDonalds and orders 3 big macs, a large fry. and a chocolate sundae. Then asks for a diet coke with that because “I'm trying to lose weight”. That is to say, a lot of obese people think diet sodas are a magic bullet and they will lose weight with that alone because it has the word diet in it, so they no longer even try to cut back on what they eat.

[ETL]

“The researchers believe that the artificial sweeteners may activate more reward centers in the brain. This in turn affects a person’s appetite, making the diet drinkers eat more food because they don’t think they are getting enough sugar in their bloodstreams.”

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/diet-soda-drinkers-consume-more-calories-study/

[Varda]

I drink diet sodas and work with fat people who do as well. You’ve hit the nail on the head. Diet sodas give the fat people an excuse to eat more of the junk they like. It’s like they think they have a calorie budget and diet sodas give them more leeway to eat junk.