Sugary drinks ‘bad for health’

Gulping down too many sugary drinks can lead to an early grave, new research has shown.

Adults over the age of 45 who consume large quantities of soft drinks and fruit juices increase their risk of dying from heart disease and other causes, a study has found.

Over a period of six years, participants who drank at least 24 ounces of sugary beverage daily were twice as likely to die from heart disease as those consuming less than one ounce.

Scientists at Emory University in Atlanta, US, also found an increased risk of death from all causes among top consumers of sugary drinks.

But there was no link between eating sugary foods and premature death. This may be related to the different ways sugary drinks and foods are processed by the body, said the researchers.

The scientists stressed that the findings only established an association and did not prove cause and effect.