Fizzy drinks regularly come under fire from experts who have warned us on countless occasions that they are full of sugar and chemicals with (usually) zero nutritional value. But many of us are still unaware of the real damage that the thirst-quenchers can have.
Research conducted by Action on Sugar in 2014 found that 79 per cent of 330ml cans of carbonated sugar-sweetened drinks contains six or more teaspoons of sugar.
Since 2014 the sugar content of fizzy drinks has declined by 43.5 per cent and the introduction of sugar tax in April 2018 saw consumption through soft drinks drop by 10 per cent.
Everyone enjoys a can of cold coke from time to time, but drinking them excessively can lead to negative effects. Soft or carbonated drinks can effect your insides, as well as having an effect on aesthetics, affecting your skin, teeth and weight.
Here, we set out 10 reasons why it might be time to opt for something a little more natural.
Increased risk of cancer
There have been many studies that have looked at the links between various types of cancer and fizzy drink consumption.
In 2019, a study carried out by the British Medical Journal surveyed 101,257 participants aged 18 and over for more than five years and found that the consumption of sugary drinks was positively associated with the risk of overall cancer and breast cancer.
The research concluded that drinking an extra 100ml of sugary drinks a day, which equates to around just two cans a week, could increase the risk of developing cancer by 18 per cent.
Linked to heart disease
Scientists in America have also been probing the link between sugar-laden drinks and death rates from cardiovascular disease.
Researchers in 2019 concluded that people who drank more than two servings of calorie-high beverage a day had a 31 per cent higher risk of death from bad heart health. It also found that each increase in the serving-per-day came with a 10 per cent higher risk of heart disease-related death.
Higher risk of diabetes
Sugar-laden drinks have been proven to increase cases of Type 2 diabetes. In 2009, the American Diabetes Association reported that consuming one or more fizzy drinks per day when compared to no consumption at all, increased the risk by 67 per cent.
This behaviour also resulted in a 36 per cent greater relative risk of incident metabolic syndrome - the medical term for a combination of diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity. This, in turn, puts you at greater risk of getting coronary heart disease, stroke and other conditions that affect the blood vessels, according to the NHS.
Lead to violence
A 2020 study carried out on 5,147 children aged 11, 13, and 16 found a link between drinking fizzy drinks and violence. It concluded that more frequent consumption of soft drinks was associated with more aggressive behaviour as well as depressive symptoms.
But it is still unclear exactly why this is the case. Soft drinks are highly processed and contain a variety of ingredients that could be the problem including aspartame, which is linked to irritability, and sodium benzoate, which has been associated with ADHD-related symptoms.
Caffeine has also often been identified as having a link to behavioural problems.
Linked to premature birth in pregnant women
Pregnant women were warned against drinking diet fizzy drinks following a 2010 study undertaken in Denmark on 60,000 women. Those who drank artificially sweetened soft drinks, whether fizzy or still, were found to be more likely to give birth prematurely.
Women who had at least one serving of fizzy drink a day during pregnancy were 38 per cent more likely to deliver preterm compared to those who drank none at all.
It is thought that the chemicals in the artificial sweetener changed the wombs of pregnant women.
Lead to premature ageing
Phosphates used in fizzy drinks, as well as many other processed foods, have been found to speed up the ageing process.
This is not bad just in terms of potential wrinkles, but also health complications that come with age, such as chronic kidney disease and cardiovascular calcification.
Increased risk of Alzheimer's
In 2020, scientists in America found that higher consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages was associated with an increased risk of all dementia, AD dementia and stroke.
The Framingham Heart Study, which ran over 20 years, stated that those who had consumed one to seven servings of sugar-sweetened beverages per week were nearly 2 per cent times more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease than those who consumed none.
Make us fat
This one may seem obvious. However, what you may not know is that diet soft drinks can still affect our waistline dramatically. A 2015 study of 749 adults found that the "waist circumference gain" of people who consumed diet soda on a daily basis was nearly four times greater than non-consumers across a 10-year period.
It concluded that there was a "striking dose-response relationship, increasing diet soda intake was associated with escalating abdominal obesity".
Increased risk of liver damage
Studies have found that just two cans per day of sugar-sweetened beverages can contribute to the development of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).
The NHS advises that a healthy liver should contain little to no fat but it is estimated that up to 1 in every 3 people in the UK has early stages of NAFLD, where there are small amounts of fat in their liver.
Cause early puberty
A 2015 Harvard Medical School study of 5,583 girls aged nine to 14 found that those who drank just one-and-a-half cans of soft drink a day had their first periods earlier than those who did not by 2.7 months.
Although the margins seem small, experts argue that women who start their periods younger are at higher risk of future health complications.
Damaging to teeth
Soft drinks can be damaging to teeth - so curbing your fizzy drink habit is the key to keeping your pearly whites healthy. According to Dr Rhona Eskander, Waterpik oral care ambassador and dental professional, recommends drinking unsweetened tea or water instead. "Soft drinks, whether sugar-free or not, contain acid. They can be damaging to teeth and can lead to increased cavities and dental erosion." She adds that if you must drink soft drinks, try to avoid brushing your teeth immediately after "since acid softens your teeth's structure, making them more vulnerable to abrasion."