North Shore Shape Up: Sweet drinks can end your life early

Some of the greatest dangers to your waistline and general well-being don’t come on a plate or in a bowl, but in glasses and bottles. Soda, juice, and other sweetened beverages are linked to increased weight gain, diabetes, and heart problems. Drinking them regularly can even increase the odds that you’ll die early, according to research cited by Cleveland Clinic Wellness:

In analyzing data from more than 100,000 men and women, researchers found that the more sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) people drank, the more likely they were to die prematurely, with just two SSBs a day linked to a 31 percent increased risk of dying from heart disease and a 21 percent increase of dying from any cause. Women were especially vulnerable to the health harms of sugar. A 12-ounce can of one popular soda contains 39 grams of added sugar—that’s almost 10 teaspoons of sugar, and higher than the American Heart Association’s recommended limits for a whole day. Many packaged iced teas and “sports drinks” are similarly sugar-laden.

If you’re hooked on sweet drinks, start trying to transition to unsweetened tea, plain water, or sparkling water. It’s a hard habit to kick, but it’s worth it.

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