Drinking two glasses of soda daily can increase your risk of an early death, study says

If you’ve traded regular sodas for diet ones, beware. Both drinks can lead to an early death, according to a new report.

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Researchers from health institutions across Germany, Spain, France and other European countries recently conducted a study, published in JAMA Internal Medicine, to explore the relationship  between soft drinks, both sugar-sweetened and artificially-sweetened, and higher risk of mortality.

To do so, they examined 51,743 men and women, with an average age of 50, from 10 countries in Europe. The subjects were a part of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition, an assessment that evaluates the link between diet and cancer.

After analyzing the results, the scientists found those who drank two or more glasses of regular or diet soda a day had a higher risk of mortality, compared to those who only drank one glass a month.

Those who drank two or more cans of diet sodas a day were more likely to die from circulatory diseases, while those who had one or more cans of regular sodas a day were more likely to die from digestive diseases.

“This study found that consumption of total, sugar-sweetened, and artificially sweetened soft drinks was positively associated with all-cause deaths in this large European cohort,” the authors said in the study. “The results are supportive of public health campaigns aimed at limiting the consumption of soft drinks.”

This isn’t the first time sugary drinks have been associated with early death.

In 2019, researchers from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health found sugar-sweetened beverages increased the risk of premature death from heart disease or cancer.