I weened myself off all sodas five years ago, which was tough since I grew up in Coca-Cola country with Diet Coke parents. It went from sodas mixed with sparkling water... then to sparkling water... then to water. I haven't missed it since.

However, I recently fell in love with Kombucha as a fun snack drink. There are some theories (I think japanese?) that encourage eating all the different tastes at a meal -- savory, sweet, sour, etc -- as separate entities, not mixed. The theory was more complicated than this, but my simplified version helps when I'm snacking -- if one "taste" doesn't satiate me, I'll try another. Kombucha tends to fulfill the sour... and the bubbly makes it fun to drink.

Very interesting thread, and I had no idea aspartame affected the brain. A similar accident happened to a friend of mine, and we've noticed the personality changes in him. But we're happy he pulled through. I'm hoping the doctors also told him about aspartame (or whatever it is in the diet sodas).