Stop drinking sugary beverages; switching to diet versions does not settle the issue
People drinking two or more sugary servings daily had about 20% higher mortality than people drinking almost none; one or two servings was associated with over 10% higher mortality. Diet drinks did not show a mortality benefit: more than two glasses daily was associated with roughly 25% higher mortality.
What it takes
Free and takes no time. Water or unsweetened tea can save money. The challenge is dropping the sweet-drink habit, including artificially sweetened drinks.
What you may gain
Two US observational cohorts totaling about 118,000 people and 36,000 deaths found 21% higher mortality with at least 2 servings daily versus fewer than 1 monthly (HR 1.21), and 14% higher mortality with 1–2 daily (HR 1.14). The European EPIC cohort followed about 450,000 people in 10 countries. Comparing at least 2 glasses daily with fewer than 1 monthly, HRs were 1.08 for sugar-sweetened soft drinks (95% CI 1.01–1.16), 1.26 for artificially sweetened drinks (1.16–1.35), and 1.17 for all soft drinks combined (1.11–1.22): about 8%, 26%, and 17% higher mortality hazards, respectively.
Context & considerations
The diet-drink finding is disputed. Its stronger association may reflect reverse causation: people switch to diet drinks because they are already overweight or have diabetes. It does not show that artificial sweeteners are more toxic. The source argues that it also does not support assuming diet drinks remove all concern; water or unsweetened tea is the most straightforward choice. These are observational studies, and heavy soft-drink consumers may have less healthy lifestyles generally, inflating the apparent differences.
Research & references
Malik VS et al. (2019). Long-Term Consumption of Sugar-Sweetened and Artificially Sweetened Beverages and Risk of Mortality in US Adults. Circulation. https://doi.org/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.118.037401 ; Mullee A, Romaguera D, Pearson-Stuttard J, et al. (2019). Association Between Soft Drink Consumption and Mortality in 10 European Countries. JAMA Internal Medicine, 179(11), 1479-1490. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2019.2478