I believe there's an aspect of preference to it and in my case the preference was replaced over time. As a kid to young adult I would drink non-diet soda for t

I believe there's an aspect of preference to it and in my case the preference was replaced over time. As a kid to young adult I would drink non-diet soda for the caffeine boost but switched to diet as I got older and my metabolism slowed down. At first diet soda didn't taste as good to me but was worth it for not gaining weight, but at this point after many years of having made the switch diet sodas taste better to me and drinking real sugar cola tastes significantly worse.