Daily consumption of sucrose-sweetened soft drinks (SSSDs) increases the risk of obesity, metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular disease, compared to drinking milk, diet cola and water, according to a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
The association between consumption of sucrose-sweetened beverages and risk of obesity, metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular disease has been long established; however, researchers at Aarhus University Hospital wanted to compare the effects of SSSDs with those of isocaloric milk and a non-caloric soft drink on changes in total fat mass and ectopic fat deposition (in liver and muscle tissue).
For the study, 47 overweight subjects were randomly assigned to drink 1 liter per day for six months of one of four different test drinks—sucrose-sweetened soft drink (regular cola), isocaloric semi skim milk, aspartame-sweetened diet cola, and water. The amount of intrahepatic fat and intramyocellular fat was measured with 1H-magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Other endpoints were fat mass, fat distribution (dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and magnetic resonance imaging), and metabolic risk factors.
Subjects who drank the sucrose-sweetened beverages gained more fat than those who consumed any of other three beverages. Compared to the baseline measurements, drinking the regular soda increased liver fat 132% to 143%, skeletal muscle fat 117% to 221%, visceral fat 24% to 31%, blood triglycerides 32%, and total cholesterol 11%. There was no significant difference in total fat mass among all four groups. Milk and diet cola reduced systolic blood pressure 10% to 15%, compared to regular cola. Diet cola has similar effects to those of water on fat storage.
