No no, he said an idiot that is/was his kid's science teacher (ironically enough) mentioned the aspartame thing. The person you replied to is in agreement.

As for myself, idgaf about whether it's outright healthy or not to drink aspartame as long as nobody's dying or being injured from it; I've heard the quoted stats on diet soda and it sounds safe due to even processed sugar being more carcinogenic, but diet soda and aspartame in general still triggers insulin production.

Long story short, I just drink regular soda and try to limit my intake of processed foods. I'm not particularly concerned about my physical appearance or even my continued survival, but death by suffocating under my own body weight or losing limbs to diabetes does not sound like a fun way to spend my final moments so "YOLO means you don't have multiple lives so stop doing stupid shit, dickheads" prevailed in my mind and I try to keep my weight getting higher than it already is.