Soda drinkers beware: Drinking more than a glass of soda every day may increase your risk of premature death. This is according to European researchers, who found that drinking two or more glasses of soda daily is associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality.

The researchers arrived at this finding after tracking more than 451,000 adults with a mean age of 50 years for up to 19 years. None of the subjects had been diagnosed with cancer, diabetes, heart disease or stroke before the start of the study. Within 16 years, more than 41,000 passed away.

After adjusting for other mortality risk factors, such as smoking and obesity, the researchers found that those who drank two or more glasses of either sugary or artificially sweetened soft drinks were more likely to die from various causes than those who drank one.

Those who drank two or more glasses of sugary drinks every day were more likely to die from digestive diseases that affect the liver, pancreas, intestines and appendix. Meanwhile, those who consumed the same amount of artificially sweetened drinks every day were more likely to die from diseases of the blood vessel.

The researchers’ definition of soft drink included regular soda, low-calorie or diet soda and fruit squash or cordial. In the study, a glass measured eight ounces. By comparison, a typical can of soda is 12 ounces.

In view of their findings, the researchers advocated public health initiatives that would help reduce how much soda people consume. They also recommended more studies that would further examine the association between soda consumption and premature death.

More research linking drinking soda every day to premature death

A study led by Harvard University researchers found that drinking two or more sweetened drinks, such as sodas, every day increases your risk of premature death by 21 percent compared to drinking less than one a month. The increase is more pronounced in women than men, with women’s mortality risk rising by 25 percent. Meanwhile, men’s risk is up by 12 percent.

The study also found that drinking more than one sugary drink a day is associated with a 29 percent increased risk of early death from cardiovascular disease. Moreover, it found a moderate association between sugary drink consumption and death from cancer.

Because of these findings, lead author Vasanti Malik recommended swapping soda for water to boost your longevity. He noted that while diet soda may help frequent soda drinkers cut back their sugar consumption, water remains the best and healthiest beverage.

How daily consumption of sugar affects your health

Here are some of the many reasons why drinking soda every day is bad for your health:

1. It causes diabetes. Consuming a lot of sugar can make you resistant to insulin, which is the hormone that regulates the amounts of sugar in your blood.
2. It promotes weight gain. Sweetened beverages are empty calories, which means they will never satisfy your hunger no matter how much you gulp down. This means that drinking soda only adds calories on top of what you actually need to eat feel full.
3. It fattens your liver. Many brands of soda are rich in fructose, which can only be processed by your liver. Drinking soda daily overloads your liver and lead to what’s known as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
4. It causes sugar addiction. Consuming sugar triggers the release of the neurotransmitter dopamine, which gives you feelings of pleasure. Dopamine trains your brain to want more of sugar.
5. It raises your risk of heart disease. Studies show that drinking soda and other sugary drinks on the regular increases triglycerides and bad cholesterol in your blood. This, in turn, can raise your risk of cardiovascular disease.
6. It drives up cancer risk. Plenty of studies show that regularly snarfing down sweetened drinks increases your risk of various types of cancer, such as colon and breast cancers.
7. It destroys your teeth. The acids in soda eat away at the tooth enamel and create an environment inside your mouth that allows harmful bacteria to thrive.
8. It inflames your joints. Fructose in soda increases your uric acid, which is a waste product found in your blood. High levels of uric acid cause gout, a form of arthritis that causes inflammation in the joints.
9. It increases dementia risk. Research shows that incremental increases in blood sugar are associated with an increased risk of dementia.

Drinking soda and other sweetened drinks every day do no favors to your health. It makes you prone to premature death, heart disease, dementia and cancer, among others. Plus, these beverages are empty calories that are neither filling nor nutritious. Swap soda for water to hydrate and to increase your longevity.

Sources include:

EcoWatch.com

JAMANetwork.com

USAToday.com

TheGreatist.com