Swapping your regular soda for a diet version may not be any healthier for the liver, new research suggests.
According to Fox News, a study of UK Biobank data found that both sugary drinks and artificially sweetened ones, even those labeled zero sugar, are linked to a higher risk of liver disease.
The findings were presented this week at United European Gastroenterology Week in Berlin, Germany.
The study followed more than 120,000 adults over 10 years. None of them had liver disease when the research began.
Over time, scientists tracked what the participants drank and also assessed their liver health.
People who drank a lot of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs), like soda, sweet tea or energy drinks, had about a 50% higher risk of developing a serious liver condition called metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), also known as fatty liver disease not caused by alcohol.
"SSBs have long been under scrutiny, while their diet alternatives are often seen as the healthier choice," lead author Lihe Liu, a graduate student in the Department of Gastroenterology at the First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, China, said in a press release.
However, those who drank diet drinks, low- or non-sugar-sweetened beverages (or LNSSBs), had an even higher risk of liver disease, at around 60%.
