Sugary drinks are a major cause of heart disease

Doctors maintain the epidemic of chronic disease such as cancer and heart problems is due to the fact we’re living longer.  This is not true: it’s because of the way we live – and especially the food we eat.  The point is emphasised again this week by a study that has discovered that drinking just one sugary drink a day increases your chances of heart disease by 20 per cent.
Just one 12-ounce drink a day is enough to increase the risk, say researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health, who surveyed 42,883 men aged between 40 and 75 years.  But drinking sugar-sweetened drinks less regularly – such as twice a week – didn’t seem to increase the risk.
Heart disease is the major cause of death in the West.  According to doctors, risk factors include obesity, smoking, physical inactivity and poor diet – and now they need to add sugary drinks to the list.
(Source: Circulation, 2012; doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.111.067017).