Is ないとダメ a stronger “must” than なければダメ?

Question

I learned that one way to form a "must" sentence is "negative verb + conditional + ダメ・ならない・いけない":

I mainly see two kinds of conditional used - the 仮定形 and と. For example

食べないとダメだ。

食べなければダメだ。

Then I thought, since と expresses a conditional that 100% will happen, like "if you drop an apple, it falls", does this mean that "must" sentences created with と express a stronger "must" than those created using the 仮定形?

Answer 1

It's not really whether one is "stronger" than the other, but instead a more "standard" form. I find the following:

〜なければ（なりません）

to be more common in instructional or written text, than say:

〜ないと（ダメ）

Part of the reason perhaps is prudence because it is quicker to say or understand, especially when you immediately need to call the listener's attention.

As a side note, I've seldom encountered the phrase

なければダメ