A sugary drink a day can cause '30 per cent increase in harmful fat'

Participants took part in a six-year study

(Jeff J Mitchell/Getty)

People who consume a sugary drink every day are at risk of putting on 30 per cent more of a dangerous type of fat than others, a new study has shown.

The so-called “visceral fat” can form around vital internal organs like the liver and pancreas, in turn raising the risk of insuline dysfunction which can cause Type 2 diabetes.

The study was carried out by scientists from the US National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, and involved analysing the data from around 1,000 adults. Participants answered questions about how often they ate food including drinks sweetened with sugar, and diet soda, over a six-year period.

Some 35 per cent of those surveyed said they drank sugar-sweetened beverages frequently, while 13 per cent reported doing so every day. Around a third of the participants said they never drank sugar-sweetened beverages, while a fifth did occasionally.

Those who took part also had their abdominal fat tissue measured using a tomography scanner. They were scanned again six years later.

Researchers found that those who consumed sugary drinks every day experienced a 30 per cent increase in visceral fat, the MailOnline reported.

Dr. Caroline S. Fox, lead author of the study, told Reuters: “That’s probably a very small difference of actual visceral fat,” but added that other studies showed that this linked to the risk of developing illnesses.

Victoria Taylor, senior dietitian at the British Heart Foundation, told MailOnline: "Having more visceral fat around the abdomen and organs is linked to an increased risk of heart disease."

She added that more research is needed to confirm the reasons behind the findings, but she said it supports calls for the nation’s sugar intake to be reduced.

The Government is currently facing from campaigners including the National Obesity Forum to put a 50 per cent tax on sugar.

Last week, Prime Minister David Cameron suggested that the Government could implement a levy on fizzy drinks in 2016.