Graham Colditz, the Niess-Gain Professor of Surgery at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis
We have a love affair with sugary drinks in the U.S. And it may, quite literally, be killing us. About 25,000 deaths each year are linked to drinking beverages like full-sugar sodas, sports drinks and energy drinks.
It’s a startling number, especially for something so common that we often don’t give it a second thought. Half of adults have at least one sugary drink each day, and about 20% have two or more.
As if losing years of life weren’t concerning enough, “regularly drinking sugar-sweetened beverages has also been linked to weight gain and a higher risk of chronic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease and even liver disease,” said Dr. Rachel Tabak, a registered dietitian and research associate professor at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis.
What is it about these drinks that can lead to so many problems? There are a number of possibilities, but one likely culprit is pretty simple: extra calories.
Read the full piece in the Daily Star Journal.