Featured Image Credit: Getty Stock Images
Topics: Health, Food and Drink, Science, News
Ella Scott
Your daily diet soda habit or post-work low-sugar fizzy fix could be wreaking havoc on your health, according to a jaw-dropping new study.
Some of us live for a juicy, light lemonade or a fruity pop to wash down our dinners, while others rely on carbonated beverages to help maintain their lifelong alcohol abstinence.
Whether you're a dirty soda fan like the Mormon Wives or just like to indulge in a diet cola or two, you might be interested to know that if your go-to drink contains real or substitute sugars, you could be in serious danger.
New research, presented on Monday (October 6) at UEG Week 2025, has argued a link between both sugar-sweetened beverages and low- or non-sugar-sweetened beverages and a higher risk of developing metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD).
Advert
MASLD is described as the most common cause of chronic liver disease and happens when your body stores lots of fat in your liver, per the Cleveland Clinic.
Over time, this fat in your liver can cause inflammation. Symptoms include an ache in your upper right abdomen, loss of appetite, and unexpected weight loss.
To come to this conclusion, scientists, including Lihe Liu is a graduate student in the Department of Gastroenterology at the First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, China, used repeating 24-hour dietary questionnaires to track beverage consumption.
Researchers examined the associations between soda intake and the risks of developing MASLD, liver fat accumulation, and liver-related mortality.
Results claimed that a higher intake of both sugar-sweetened and low- or non-sugar-sweetened beverages was associated with a 60 percent and 50 percent elevated risk of developing MASLD, respectively.
Over the median 10.3-year follow-up, 1,178 participants developed MASLD and 108 died from liver-related causes, according to the study.
While no significant association was observed for sugar-sweetened sodas, low- or non-sugar-sweetened beverage consumption was additionally linked to a higher risk of liver-related mortality.
More worryingly, both soda types were positively associated with higher liver fat content.
Speaking about the damning results, lead author Liu said: “[Low- or non-sugar-sweetened drinks] have long been under scrutiny, while their ‘diet’ alternatives are often seen as the healthier choice. Both, however, are widely consumed, and their effects on liver health have not been well understood.”
Liu explained that the research showed that even one single can of diet soda can increase the risk of MASLD. A carbonated drink with artificial sweeteners may also ‘alter the gut microbiome, disrupting the feeling of fullness, driving sweet cravings and even stimulating insulin secretion’.
“These findings challenge the common perception that these drinks are harmless and highlight the need to reconsider their role in diet and liver health, especially as MASLD emerges as a global health concern,” the author added.
Following the study, the researchers want chronic soda drinkers to ‘limit both sugar-sweetened and artificially sweetened drinks’ in their diets.
“Water remains the best choice as it removes the metabolic burden and prevents fat accumulation in the liver, whilst hydrating the body,” Liu admitted.
Experts will now aim to explore ‘causal mechanisms more deeply’, according to Eurek Alert.
This will be done through staging long-term, randomized, and genetic trials with a focus on how sugar and its substitutes interact with the gut microbiome and influence liver disease.