Sugary Drinks Are the New Cigarettes

I’ve been a science writer going on fifteen years now, but before that I worked as a certified personal trainer. In between workout sessions, my clients would often ask for nutrition advice. I’d tell them that specific diet recommendations are beyond my scope of practice, but I could never resist offering one tip: don’t drink your calories.

Why sugary drinks are worse even than sugary solids

Solid food typically has actual nutritional value. It contains micronutrients, whole grains, fiber, protein, and fat. And crucially, it takes up space in your stomach. Calorie-containing drinks – essentially anything besides water, tea, and black coffee – on the other hand, usually lack any functional nutrition and often are packed with astonishing amounts of sugar. Sugary beverages like soda, juice, energy drinks, and sweetened caffeine drinks should be enjoyed rarely or in moderation.

Recent research showcases the outsized benefits of this simple, yet powerful lifestyle choice. In January, researchers at Tufts University published a study revealing that 2.2 million new cases of type 2 diabetes and 1.2 million new cases of cardiovascular disease occur each year globally due to consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages. More recently, scientists at Brigham Young University published a meta-analysis showing that sugar-sweetened beverages are far more hazardous to health than sugary foods. Analyzing data from over half a million people across multiple continents, they found that sugar consumed through beverages was consistently linked to a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes, while sugar consumed through other sources was not. Because sugary beverages are rapidly digested – thus spiking blood sugar while doing little to assuage hunger – they uniquely contribute to perhaps the single most pernicious chronic condition plaguing humanity today: insulin resistance.

Only alcohol and tobacco are worse

Outside of alcohol and tobacco smoke, sugary fluids might be the most harmful substances humans regularly put in their bodies. With cigarette smoking at an 80-year-low in the U.S., it’s not a stretch to claim that sugary beverages are now a greater public health threat, promoting diabetes, obesity, cancer, kidney disease, and other serious conditions. Sugary drinks are the new cigarettes.

And it’s not just soft drinks. Soda consumption has actually declined steadily for the past 25 years, but for many people, sports drinks, bottled tea, juice smoothies, and sweetened caffeinated drinks have filled the sugary void. If you’re a daily frappuccino, macchiato, mocha, or latte drinker at Starbucks, you’re potentially imbibing thiry or more grams of sugar each time you slurp one down. 

The BYU researchers estimated what such a habit does to an individual.

“With each additional 12-ounce serving of sugar-sweetened beverages (i.e., soft drinks, energy drinks and sports drinks) per day, the risk for developing type 2 diabetes increased by 25%. This strong relationship showed that the increased risk began from the very first daily serving with no minimum threshold below which intake appeared to be safe.”

At least a half a billion adults worldwide have type 2 diabetes. It’s a common disease, and sugary beverages make it even more common. 

The rise of GLP-1 weight loss drugs like Wegovy and Zepbound has been rightly hailed as a massive boon to public health. If much of global society did away with its sugary beverage habit, the benefits to individuals and societies would be even larger, manifesting in reduced healthcare costs, extended lifespans, and many more years free from pain and disability. 

This article was originally published by RealClearScience and made available via RealClearWire.