Lindsay MeckThe Daily Northwestern

You hear it in the back row of movie theaters, on the beach, at frat parties and even in public bathrooms: that seductive clicking, popping, fizzing sound. I’m referring to chain-Diet Coking. Whether you call it pop or soda, this low-calorie beverage is more than a thirst quencher for Northwestern students; for many, it is an addiction with potentially dangerous consequences.

According to Newsweek, Diet Coke is the third best-selling soft drink in America, behind Coke Classic and Pepsi. With the new Diet Coke Plus, a vitamin-enhanced concoction, Diet Coke is quickly guzzling up the beverage marketplace. Diet Coke Plus’ slogan, “Your best friend just got friendlier” suggests it is a substance on which users have become dependent.

For college students, Diet Coke (or Coke Zero, the alternative marketed to males) provides a quick fix: a liquid breakfast before the 9 a.m. lecture, a boost for late night studying or a mixer at the Deuce. It is a guiltless sweet, which drinkers believe doesn’t require self-monitoring like regular cola. Just consider Diet Coke’s popularity on Facebook. With more than 500 groups extolling its virtues, one would think Diet Coke was the magic elixir of higher academia.

But instead, Diet Coke may just be a Molotov cocktail filled with harmful chemicals. Look what happens when you mix it with Mentos! The key ingredient is aspartame, an artificial sweetener discovered accidentally in the 1960s which has been studied for links to brain cancer and which has – thus far – been exonerated. To compensate for calories, Diet Coke adds 25 percent more caffeine than regular cola.

Diet Coke Heads aren’t just swilling from cans but going through entire cases in one day. It’s not the taste they are after. Just like cigarettes or oysters, no one ever likes Diet Coke the first time they try it. But that sweetly acidic potion can become a compulsive craving. As the buzz wears off, Diet Coke functions as a gateway drug to harder highs: double shot espresso or sugar-free Red Bull. Perhaps you are familiar with the infamous episode of “Saved By the Bell” when Jessie becomes addicted to caffeine pills as she struggles to stay awake and keep up with her schoolwork. At first she was “so excited,” then she was “so scared.” Next she does movies like “Showgirls.”

While not all caffeine cravings lead to a career in adult films, it is important to recognize what you are putting into your body and at what frequency. Each time you sip, picture a warning label featuring an addled, toothless soccer mom. To NU girls, this may be a scarier image than a skull and cross bones.

As an energy stimulant and as a hunger suppressant, Diet Coke is an abused substance. To be healthy, our bodies require nourishment from actual foods with natural nutrients. Not bottled bath water with a shelf life into the next millennium.

So put down your can, your bottle, your Big Gulp of Diet Coke Twist with Black Cherry Lime. The withdrawal headaches will stop eventually.