Soda's reputation is insanely bad. I still have multiple family members in their 80s and 90s who drink it regularly. I also have elderly relatives who smoke, but their health is pretty much wreaked whereas the soda drinkers seem pretty much okay given their age.
Similarly the very most productive software engineer I've ever worked with practically lived off of diet coke, just as John Carmack did while doing amazing things at Id. Similarly, plenty of olympic athletes drink soda, including one who was a second degree connection of mine in high school and who later won multiple gold medals.
None of this means soda is healthy, but if it were "insanely bad for you", then it simply wouldn't be possible people to consume it heavily and still be top performers or live into their 90s with decent health.
