Sodas and other sugary drinks don’t just pack on the pounds. They also may increase your odds of developing cancer, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, depression, and a number of other serious health issues.
“The evidence suggests that individuals — both adults and children — should limit their consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages,” says study author Shutong Du, a researcher with the department of epidemiology at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore. “Public health strategies are a pressing imperative to address sugar-sweetened beverage intake and improve diet quality and human health.”
The Many Health Consequences of Too Much Sugar
The analysis, published in The Annual Review of Nutrition, found that on average, drinking greater quantities of regular soda (not sugar-free), fruit drinks, sports drinks, energy drinks, sweetened waters, and coffee and tea beverages with added sugars was linked to poorer health outcomes in contrast with drinking lower amounts.
The results highlighted that every daily 8-ounce (oz) serving of soda or similar beverage raised the risk of dying from any cause by 4.2 percent, and the risk of dying from heart disease in particular by 8.2 percent.
When it came to specific diseases, every 8-oz daily serving was associated with a 15.2 percent increased risk for coronary heart disease, 6.8 percent increased risk for stroke, and 27 percent increased risk for diabetes.
When comparing highest to lowest sugar-sweetened beverage consumption in more than two dozen studies, Du and collaborators observed a greater chance of metabolic dysfunction–associated steatotic liver disease (47 percent), kidney stones (38 percent), and depression (31 percent higher).
“It is alarming how much sugar sweetened beverages are negatively impacting every part of the body,” says Elaine Hon, RD, a certified diabetes care and education specialist at Stanford Health Care in California. “I was surprised that sugar-sweetened beverages also play a role in depression. This tells me sugar impacts much more than our physiological health but also our mental well-being,” she says.
In addition, the study confirmed what dentists have warned us about for years. “Those with the highest consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages versus the lowest had 94.8 percent higher odds of having dental caries (tooth decay),” says Du.
A Lasting Impact on Children
Along with the negative outcomes for adults, the analysis revealed the impact of sugary drinks on children as well. Specifically, the findings showed that every serving increase in daily sugar-sweetened beverages was related to a 0.06-unit increase in BMI (body mass index) over a one-year period.
Hon, who was not involved in the study, warns that children with a high body mass index have a greater likelihood to develop obesity as an adult, which can place them at a risk for future health complications.
“If children are consuming more sugar sweetened beverages, this could result in overall poor nutrition status, as the beverages may replace calories from high quality foods,” she says.
How Do Sugary Drinks Harm the Body?
“All of the health problems in this study are associated with an excess of calories and spikes in blood sugar, and insulin,” says Lindsay Malone, RDN, an instructor in the nutrition department at Case Western Reserve University’s School of Medicine in Cleveland. “Sugar sweetened beverages are a surge of calories that most people don’t need, and the body has a hard time keeping up with the excess. As a result, we see fat start to accumulate in the liver and body fat production ramps up.”
Turning Off the Tap on Sugary Drinks
To help avoid the potential tidal wave of troubles that sugar drinks may cause, health experts urge people to drink more water or things like unsweetened tea and coffee.
Hon recommends that some people take gradual steps toward breaking their sugar cravings, such as trying 90 percent water with just a splash of juice for flavor.
“Swap soda for sparkling water,” says Malone, who was not involved in the study. “Liven up your water with lemons, limes, oranges, cucumbers, or fresh herbs. Add cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice to hot tea or coffee.”
