Nutrition Policy Institute
Article

7 Reasons to Skip Sugary Drinks

  • November 1, 2022

Fact Sheet • University of California Research Consortium on Beverages and Health • American Heart Association • November 2022 • Download PDF (261 KB)

A green soda can.

Here are seven characteristics of sugary drinks that can make them harmful to health.

  1. Many sugary drinks contain more sugar than the total daily recommended limit.1
  2. The added sugars commonly used in sugary drinks include high fructose corn syrup, which can be harmful to health because of the different way it is processed by the body.*2
  3. Sweet foods, such as cake, cookies and candies, also contain added sugars, but the “liquid” sugars in sugary drinks may be more harmful because they are absorbed by the body more quickly.3
  4. The acids in sugary drinks can cause tooth erosion and the sugars can cause tooth decay.4
  5. Sugary drinks often contain artificial flavors, artificial coloring and other ingredients that are not adequately tested for safety.5
  6. Sugary drinks are “empty calories” because they provide little or no nutrition.6
  7. Many colas and energy drinks contain caffeine. Too much caffeine can cause health problems.7

*In contrast to the fructose in sugary drinks, the fructose in fruits is accompanied by many other essential nutrients and is bound by protective fiber that slows its absorption.2

References 

  1. (1) US Department of Agriculture and US Department of Health and Human Services. Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025. 9th Edition . December 2020. (2) American Heart Association. Added Sugars.  2021. At, https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-eating/eat-smart/sugar/added-sugars
  2. (1) Stanhope KL. 2016. Sugar consumption, metabolic disease and obesity: The state of the controversy. Crit Rev Clin Lab Sci 53(1):52-67. (2) Herman MA, Birnbaum MJ. 2021. Molecular aspects of fructose metabolism and metabolic disease. Cell Metab 33(12):2329-2354. (3) Kazemi A, Soltani S, Mokhtari Z, Khan T, Golzarand M, et al. 2021. The relationship between major food sources of fructose and cardiovascular disease, cancer, and all-cause mortality: a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of cohort studies. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr 1-14.
  3. (1) Sundborn G, et al. 2019.  Are Liquid Sugars Different from Solid Sugar in Their Ability to Cause Metabolic Syndrome? Obes 0(0): 1-9. (2) Stanhope KL, Goran MI, Bosy-Westphal A, King JC, Schmidt LA, et al. 2018. Pathways and mechanisms linking dietary components to cardiometabolic disease: thinking beyond calories. Obes Rev 19(9):1205- 1235.
  4. (1) Ehlen LA, Marshall TA, Qian F, Wefel JS, Warren JJ. 2008. Acidic beverages increase the risk of in vitro tooth erosion. Nutr Res 28(5):299-303. (2) Sheiham A, James WP. 2014. A reappraisal of the quantitative relationship between sugar intake and dental caries: the need for new criteria for developing goals for sugar intake. BMC Public Health 14:863. (3) Salas MM, Nascimento GG, Vargas-ferreira F, Tarquinio SB, Huysmans MC, Demarco FF. 2015. Diet influenced tooth erosion prevalence in children and adolescents: Results of a meta-analysis and meta-regression. J Dent 43(8):865-75. (4) Valenzuela MJ, Waterhouse B, Aggarwal VR, Bloor K, Doran T. 2021. Effect of sugar-sweetened beverages on oral health: a systematic review and meta-analysis, Eur J Pub Health 31(1): 122–129.
  5. (1) Department of Health and Human Services, Food and Drug Administration. Substances Generally Recognized as Safe.  21 CFR Parts 20, 25, 170, 184, 186, and 570.  Available at, https://www.finnegan.com/a/web/151079/2016-19164.pdf (2) Trasande L, Shaffer RM, Sathyanarayana S, Council on Environmental Health. 2018. Food additives and child health. Peds 142(2):e20181408
  6. (1) US Department of Agriculture and US Department of Health and Human Services. 2020. Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025. 9th Edition. Available at, DietaryGuidelines.gov. (2) Wambogo E, Reedy J, Shams-White M, Herrick K, Lerman J, O'Connor L. 2020. Sources of Energy, Empty Calories, Added Sugars, and Solid Fats Among Children and Adolescents 2–18 Years in the United States. Curr Dev Nutr 4(Supp 2):296.
  7. (1) Temple JL, Bernard C, Lipshultz SE, Czachor JD, Westphal JA, Mestre MA.  2017. The Safety of Ingested Caffeine: A Comprehensive Review. Front Psych 26;8:80. (2) Kraak VI, Davy BM, Rockwell MS, Kostelnik S, Hedrick VE. 2020. Policy Recommendations to Address Energy Drink Marketing and Consumption by Vulnerable Populations in the United States. J Acad Nutr Diet 120(5):767-777.

Suggested Citation: Fact Sheet: 7 Reasons to Skip Sugary Drinks. University of California Research Consortium on Beverages and Health. American Heart Association. November 2022.

The University of California Research Consortium on Beverages and Health includes faculty from every UC campus working to provide California legislators and communities with the science base for policy to decrease consumption of sugary drinks and increase consumption of water and other healthy beverages.

University of California Research Consortium on Beverages and Health • Bringing Science to Policy • Find our entire factsheet series at https://npi.ucanr.edu/Resources/UCRCBH/ • For more information contact:  ceahecht@ucanr.edu •

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