Our health and wellbeing is influenced by a huge range of factors. Some of these are beyond our control, such as our genetics and certain illnesses we experience.
However, our lifestyle habits play a huge role. And among these, diet is one of the most important.
For this reason there are a multitude of foods and drinks health experts advise us to stay away from. Foods high in saturated fats are a key example, as well as alcoholic beverages.
Health bodies have also long since warned of the risks of fizzy drinks, due to their high sugar content.
But though many of us are aware of the health complications it seems we can’t help but drink them regularly. A new survey found that a staggering 43 percent of Britons admitted to consuming more fizzy drinks than water over the course of a week.
The study, conducted by Drink Living Things, asked 2,500 adults from the UK about their fizzy drink consumption.
This included fizzy soda, energy drinks and isotonic sports drinks.
Of these, fizzy soda proved to be most addictive, with 19 percent of respondents saying they consume it more than once a day.
And a shocking 40 percent of people drink fizzy soda daily.
However, across the UK, one city consumes far more fizzy drinks than other locations.
A breakdown of the results showed Cardiff in Wales is home to the most fizzy drink-addicted residents than any other city.
According to the survey, 25 percent of participants from Cardiff admitted to being “addicted to fizzy drinks”.
Belfast and Glasgow followed behind with 17 percent, while London came in fourth with 16 percent.
But what are the health implications of such an addiction?
Aside from the damage the sugar can cause to your teeth, it could also have lasting implications for your body.
A meta-analysis published in the American Journal of Public Health in 2007, found a “striking link” between soft drink consumption and type 2 diabetes when considering the results of multiple existing studies.
In one such study, 91,000 women were followed for eight years during which time those who consumed one or more servings of soft drink per day were twice as likely as those who consumed less than one serving per month to develop diabetes.
Swapping out the soft drinks for diet alternatives eradicated this risk, “suggesting that the risk was specific to sugar-sweetened soft drinks.”
Another study reported a positive association between soft drink consumption and a number of risk factors for metabolic syndrome – a group of health problems that put you at risk of type 2 diabetes or conditions that affect your heart or blood vessels.
Separate research, published in Circulation journal in 2016, concluded that drinking sugar-sweetened beverages every day could increase visceral fat by up to 30 percent.
Visceral fat is fat stored deep in the belly around the organs that has been linked to diabetes and heart disease risk.
In response to this study, senior dietitian at the British Heart Foundation, Victoria Taylor, said: “Research has shown that excessive visceral fat around the abdomen and vital organs is linked to an increased risk of heart disease.
“This study suggests that, as well as contributing to obesity, regularly drinking sugar sweetened drinks may also influence the amount of fat around our organs.”
The 10 most fizzy drink-addicted cities in the UK were:
- Cardiff – 25 percent of participants said they were addicted to fizzy drinks
- Belfast – 17.24 percent
- Glasgow – 17.12 percent
- London – 16.19 percent
- Brighton – 15.52 percent
- Plymouth – 14.29 percent
- Leeds – 14.15 percent
- Bristol – 12.87 percent
- Birmingham – 12.64 percent
- Manchester – 11.80 percent.
