Research shows that one can of fizzy drink a day can cause dangerous fat to wrap around major organs

People who consume sugary drinks are more likely to develop dangerous fat that becomes wrapped around internal organs, new research has warned. Scientists found that those who drank sugar-sweetened drinks every day put on 30 per cent more ‘visceral fat’ than those who never drank them, according to a six-year study. Visceral fat becomes wrapped around major internal organs such as the liver, pancreas and intestines. It increases the risk of heart disease and triggers insulin resistance, a major cause of type two diabetes.
1,000 middle-aged people were studied for six years by scientists at the US National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute in Massachusetts. They asked each participant how often they drank sugar-sweetened and diet drinks, and then, using specialised X-rays, they calculated the amount of visceral fat in each person’s body at the start and end of the project. According to the results, published in the Circulation medical journal, people who drank sugary or fizzy drinks every day put on nearly a litre in extra visceral fat over the six years. The team, which included experts from Harvard Medical School and Tufts University in Boston, said the study adds another piece of evidence to the growing body of research suggesting that sweet drinks are harmful to health.
The findings come as the British Government comes under pressure to impose a tax on drinks which contain added sugar.
 ‘There is a steady drumbeat of evidence showing that sugar and obesity are not only causing cancer but a whole range of other health problems,’ Simon Stevens, chief executive of NHS England said.
Her team found that participants in the study who drank sugar-sweetened drinks every day increased their visceral fat by an average of 852 millilitres over the six years, 30 per cent more than those who never drank sweet drinks. Those who consumed sweet drinks at least once a week put on 707ml of visceral fat, 7 per cent more than those who abstained completely. The same patterns were not seen for those who drank ‘diet’ drinks containing artificial sweeteners, suggesting that sugar itself plays a role. The authors stressed that they did not know why sugary drinks were linked to increases in visceral fat, but said they suspect that insulin resistance triggered by added sugar may play a role in fat increase.

Culled from DailyMail