Drinking Sodas Causes Premature Aging, Weight Gain, Even Early Death

Cold glass with cola and ice cubes

Photo credit: bigstock.com

  Everyone has a soda now and then, right? What’s the big deal? OK, so they aren’t health food but so what? Having a soda with my lunch everyday isn’t going to kill me, right?

Uh…well…now that you mention it…

A new study shows that it just might kill you sooner than you might think. These sugary drinks are even more incredibly unhealthy, and downright dangerous, than we previously thought.

 

SEE ALSO: Which is the Most Deadly: GMOs, Cigarettes, or Diet Soda?

 

The American Journal of Public Health states that drinking sodas shortens our telomeres. The shorter our telomeres, the shorter our lives.

What is a telomere? Think of it as a cap on the ends of our chromosomes. As we get older, telomeres get shorter. The shorter our telomeres, the harder it becomes for our cells to regenerate. This is why we get older and have signs of aging.

This study involved scientists at several universities who studied more than 5,000 adults who were asked to take part in the National Health and Nutrition Exam Survey from 1999 until 2002. Subjects were between the ages of 20 and 65. All subjects were generally healthy and had no history of heart disease or diabetes. Although they were not tracked, they were measured at one point within this timeframe. Researchers measured their stored DNA and determined that the more soda an individual drank made for shorter telomeres.

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2 Comments

  1. Johnross1968

    Feb 8, 2015 at 12:37 am

    “The scientists in this study say that for every 20 ounce soda, you age an additional 4.6 years”

    This is such obvious BS. This is telling me that if I drank a 2 ltr bottle of coke I just aged 16 years. So if I drink 10 2 ltr bottles of coke I would age 160 years!
    Even a blind idiot can tell you this is BS.

    • American Beverage Association

      Feb 10, 2015 at 2:45 pm

      You’re right to be cynical about this study, and you’re not alone in questioning these ‘findings.’ As this Slate article (http://slate.me/10yvm5I)
      aptly puts it: “The new paper doesn’t show that the long-term health
      effects of soda and tobacco are comparable. It doesn’t prove that
      Coca-Cola kills people. And it doesn’t estimate the effects of drinking
      Pepsi on anyone’s lifespan. It only claims to find
      a subtle difference between soda lovers’ blood cells and those of
      everybody else. The shallow write-ups and inveigling headlines are
      insulting, and possibly injurious.” In sum, the body of science proves
      soda is safe, and this research fails to prove otherwise
      or to establish its inaccurate claim regarding soft drink consumption
      and accelerated aging. In other words, there is no cause for concern.
      -American Beverage Association