2 Sodas Per Day Doubles Risk of Heart Disease

How much soda do you drink? If you drink two or more 12-ounce servings per day, it could raise your risk of heart disease by 200 percent. According to a new study conducted by researchers from Emory University, men and women who drink just two cans of soda daily are twice as likely to develop heart disease than their counterparts who refrain from drinking soda.

"There were two parts of this question we wanted to understand." said researcher Dr Jean Welsh, assistant professor at Emory University. "Do added sugars increase risk of death from heart disease or other causes, and, if so, is there a difference in risk between sugar-sweetened beverages and sugary foods?"

After analyzing health data on people who consumed soda and those who didn't consume soda, researchers from Emory University concluded that those who consumed 24 ounces of soda per day were twice as likely to die from heart disease. Of course, heart disease is already the leading cause of death among men and women in the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 610,000 Americans die from it each year.

So, what makes soda such a harmful substance for your heart health? Researcher theorize that it's the way in which soda, or more specifically the processed sugar from which it is made, is metabolized by the body. Because it contains calories from sugar without any beneficial vitamins or nutrients, soda is classified as an empty-calorie food (or beverage). Therefore, consuming it triggers a sugar rush in which the processed sugars are rapidly absorbed by the body, thus quickly entering the bloodstream and causing elevated glucose levels.

Heart disease isn't the only health risk associated with soda. Other studies have linked regular consumption of sugary beverages to increased rates of diabetes, obesity and even cancer. While this study specifically found that two sodas daily increased a person's risk of heart disease by 200 percent, other studies have found that drinking just one soda per day has a noticeable, negative impact.

And don't assume that diet soda is any better for your health than regular sugar-sweetened soda. Although diet soda is typically devoid of calories, it contains artificial sweetener that affects your body in much of the same way. In fact, some studies have shown diet soda to be even worse for your health than regular soda. So, try to drink water while avoiding both regular and diet soda.