Just one can of diet soft drink a day can raise risk of liver disease by 60%, study finds
New health warning issued over diet soft drinks
- New research suggests that artificially sweetened beverages pose a higher risk of liver disease than sugary drinks, even with just one can consumed daily.
- The study, presented at United European Gastroenterology Week, tracked over 123,000 UK Biobank participants for a decade to assess beverage consumption and liver health.
- Researchers found that sugar-sweetened drinks increased the risk of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) by 50 per cent, while artificially sweetened drinks raised this risk by 60 per cent.
- Consuming artificially sweetened beverages was also associated with an elevated risk of dying from liver-related causes.
- Experts advise replacing both sugar-sweetened and artificially sweetened drinks with water, which was shown to reduce the risk of liver disease by over 10 per cent.