A research presented at the American Heart Association Epidemiology and Prevention/Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism 2013, found that consumption of sugar-sweetened sodas, sports drinks and fruit drinks was associated with 180,000 deaths around the world each year. Data collected as part of the 2010 Global Burden of Diseases Study showed that intake of sugar-sweetened beverages has been linked to 133,000 diabetes deaths, 44,000 deaths from cardiovascular diseases and 6,000 cancer deaths. Seventy eight per cent of these deaths were due to overconsuming sugary drinks and were in low and middle-income countries.
About 15.8% of total energy in American diet comes from added sugar, most of which is derived from sodas (a term used to describe carbonated sugar-sweetened beverages), fruit juice, sweetened ice tea. There is significant surge in the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages from the late 1970s through the early 2000. During that period, daily intake of calories from sugar-sweetened beverages reached 83 kcal/person. One 12-ounce can of soda contains 40 – 50g of sugar (that is 150kcal) which is equivalent to 10 teaspoons of table sugar. Consumption of one 12-ounce can of soda a day (in the absence of any other additional sources of calories), will result in 15LB (6.8kg) weight gain in one year.
The American Heart Association recommends that adults consume 450 calories per week (36 ounces) from sugar sweetened beverages. In other words, one can consume only a total of three 12-ounce of soda per week as long as he or she abstains from consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages from other sources such as fruit juice, sweetened tea, lemonade drinks, energy drinks or coffee with added sugar or coffee creamer.
