1. Regular soda consumption may make you age more quickly
According to researchers who discovered that consuming sugary drinks was linked to cell aging, the consumption of sugar-sweetened soda might increase the risk of disease separately from the part it plays in obesity.
The study discovered that the protective DNA caps at the ends of the cells’ chromosomes known as telomeres were shorter in those individuals’ white blood cells who consumed more soda.1✅ JOURNAL REFERENCE
DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2014.302151
Telomere length can be most easily measured in white blood cells and has been linked to human lifespan before. Short telomeres have also been linked to the chronic diseases of aging such as diabetes, heart disease, and certain kinds of cancer.
Regular drinking of sugar-sweetened sodas could have an impact on the development of disease, not just by putting a strain on the metabolic control of the body, but also by accelerating cellular aging of the tissues.
According to the average telomere length shortening from chronological age, the researchers determined that drinking a 20-ounce soda daily was linked to an additional 4.6 years of biological aging.
This would be equivalent to the impact that smoking has on telomere length, or to the opposing anti-aging effect of regular exercise.
The average consumption of sugar-sweetened sodas for all participating individuals was 12 ounces. Approximately 21% in this nationally representative sample reported consuming a minimum of 20 ounces of sugar-sweetened soda every day.
The only beverage consumed that was negatively associated with telomere length was sugared soda consumption.
