Research studies association between soft drink consumption and mortality

A new study has found that participants who drank two or more glasses of sugar-sweetened or artificially sweetened soft drinks per day had a higher risk of all-cause mortality, when compared with participants who drank less than one glass of these drinks per month.

The study examined the association between total, sugar-sweetened, and artificially sweetened soft drink consumption and subsequent total and cause-specific mortality and was coordinated by researchers from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).

It included data from more than 450 000 people in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort, with an average follow-up period of more than 16 years. The study spoke to participants from 10 European countries (Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom).

A new study has found that people who drink two or more glasses of sweetened soft drinks per day were at a higher risk of death than those who drink one glass per month.

The study also found that the consumption of two or more glasses of artificially sweetened soft drinks per day was found to be positively associated with deaths from circulatory diseases, and consumption of one or more glasses of sugar-sweetened soft drinks per day was found to be positively associated with deaths from digestive diseases.

These results, the study’s authors say, are supportive of public health campaigns aimed at limiting the consumption of soft drinks.