Drinking soda in small amounts has been liked with this condition

Sugary drinks are one of the easiest ways to pack in extra calories without realizing it. According to Healthy Food America, sugary beverages like sodas and juices are the nation’s top source of added sugar, which contains thousands of empty calories that provide little energy and unhealthily alter your body.

A new study shows that drinking just one sugary beverage a day can affect your liver’s health and increase your risk of cancer.

The study was conducted by researchers from various institutions and was presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Nutrition on June 14-16. The study accessed data from over 90,000 women between the ages of 50 and 79. and followed up for 19 years to draw a thorough picture of her health.

Photo by Ashley Kirk via Unsplash

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The study aimed to identify patterns between sugary drinks and liver cancer. It found that women who drank at least one of these beverages a day had a 73% greater risk of developing liver cancer than women who drank three or fewer sugary beverages a month.

Researchers think sugary drinks pose a risk because of the effects of sugar, which affect insulin levels and promote weight gain. All of these factors affect liver health.

Longgang Zhao, the study’s lead author, said the results are helpful because they show that reducing these drinks is an effective preventive measure. “Replacing sugar-sweetened beverages with water and non-sugar-sweetened coffee or tea could significantly reduce liver cancer risk,” Zhao said in a news release.

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It is important to note that the study had limitations such as the fact that it was conducted exclusively on older women and that it was observational. While a link has been found between sugary drinks and liver cancer, research doesn’t prove one causes the other. It just suggests that it increases the risk.