This popular beverage may hasten the ageing process, researchers say.
People have been searching for the fabled fountain of youth since the dawn of humanity, and the desire for an ageless appearance and a longer, healthier life remains a key aim for many people today. While anti-ageing creams and devices, longevity pills, and diets that promise to turn back the clock may help you look and feel younger, there may be a more straightforward approach to slow down the ageing process. According to research, there's one drink that can make you age faster—but eliminating it from your diet could help you slow down your premature ageing.
Sugar-sweetened soda, according to science, is the worst drink when it comes to ageing.
Sugary drinks can induce accelerated ageing on a cellular level, according to a 2014 study published in the American Journal of Public Health.
Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) looked at data from 5,309 adults in the United States between the ages of 20 and 65 who had no history of cardiovascular disease and whose information was collected as part of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys between 1999 and 2002.
The researchers discovered that people who consumed more sugar-sweetened beverages had shorter telomeres—DNA portions at the ends of chromosomes—in their blood cells. Telomere shortening in white blood cells has been related to a shorter lifespan and a higher risk of chronic disease.
"Regular intake of sugar-sweetened drinks may influence disease development, not only by straining the body's metabolic management of sugars but also by accelerating cellular tissue ageing," said senior author Elissa Epel, PhD, a professor of psychiatry at UCSF, in a release.
"This is the first proof that soda is linked to telomere shortening," Epel remarked. "This was true independent of age, colour, income, or educational attainment. Telomere shortening begins well before the beginning of an illness." While the study was conducted on adults alone, Epel believes that the findings may also apply to youngsters.
While the study's authors were careful to stress that this discovery is only a connection and not proof of causality, the long-term implications are significant. "This translates to 4.6 extra years of ageing for a daily consumption of the current normal 20-ounce serving size for sugar-sweetened drinks," the study concluded, a degree of telomere shortening similar to that associated with smoking cigarettes.
However, this isn't the first study to link sugar-sweetened beverages to accelerated ageing. Consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks, like soda, was connected to alterations in gut bacteria, inflammation, and oxidative stress, all of which are linked to premature ageing, according to a 2021 review published in Current Nutrition Reports. To help offset these impacts, the authors of that study had a simple suggestion: drink something healthier.
So, the next time you crave something bubbly, try a seltzer instead—your body will thank you.