Sweet soda is a drink with bubbles and artificial flavours. And did we miss taste? Armed with a large amount of easily digested sugar, soda leads to higher levels of inflammation and an increase in the lipids in your blood, which could potentially contribute to heart diseases. The more you consume them, the more the risk increases. To find out more, we took expert inputs from Delhi-based diet and lifestyle nutritionist, Munisha Bhanot. Here's looking at how sweet sodas and heart diseases are connected...

The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP), a non-profit group, found that nearly one in three of 55 brand-name foods contained mercury in high fructose corn syrup sodas, as reported by Washington Times in 2009. (via)  

Sugar and fizzy drinks linked to childhood obesity. These days children give more preference to fizzy and sugar drinks than to water or juices.  Is this habit good for them? Certainly not. All of these fizzy and sugar drinks are loaded with empty calories. In simple language, these drinks are made up of pure sugar which gives only calories but no nutrition. The basic principle behind calories is that they lead to weight gain if your intake is higher than your usage or energy spent. Hence, it is interesting to note that fizzy drinks alone do not lead to weight gain. Children club fizzy drinks with other junk foods like burger or pizza which result in weight gain and are considered a dangerous combination. 

Soda and its links with cardiovascular diseases. This is supported by a study done in the Harvard School of Public Health. 43,000 individuals, between the ages of 40 to 75 yrs, were observed for 22 yrs. During this period they were recording their eating habits. Blood samples were also collected by the researchers from over 18,000 men. The results showed that individuals who consumed sugary beverages very often had higher levels of dangerous blood fats known as triglycerides and proteins linking to cardiovascular diseases. (Via) How heart diseases are directly linked to sugary drink  is proved by a research, published in the American Heart Association’s Journal Circulation. The research found that 12 ounces of sugar drinks such as soda, or other beverages with added sugar raised the risk of heart disease by 20 percent.  

A study in the Journal Circulation found that middle-aged adults who drink one or more regular or diet sodas daily are more prone to developing metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome is a combination of several diseases like high blood pressure, weight gain, high cholesterol and insulin resistance. Cancer-inducing sugars, often in the form of high-fructose corn syrup are also present in sodas. 

Thus, pick a beverage that brings health and nutrition benefits along with its calories and you're on the right track. 

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