[Just Passin' By]

Originally Posted by Silock

We're having a fairly reasonable discussion here. No reason to go down that path.

Take your own advice:

Bro, do you even science?

Originally Posted by Silock

First, that wording is misleading. Sweeteners with no calories cannot directly cause weight gain. Excess calories are what cause weight gain. Second, an indirect cause, by its very nature, eliminates the root variable as being a sole source. So, you can't just say "diet soda indirectly causes weight gain," because you are ignoring the intervening factor. And since we know that you cannot gain weight without the presence of excess calories, it is tackling THAT issue that should be the focus.

It's not misleading at all. It's your argument that's misleading. What you are doing is trying to base your argument on a very narrow interpretation of "cause". I get what you're doing. I simply reject the maneuver. If you narrow the focus down to the moments after ingestion, you can make an irrefutable argument that drinking water causes weight gain, for crying out loud.