Yes, drinking soda rarely is generally considered acceptable, but it's crucial to define "rarely" as moderation (like a can a week) and understand it's a treat, not a health drink, due to risks like weight gain, diabetes, heart issues, and tooth decay from the high added sugar, with diet sodas posing different concerns. An occasional soda won't derail a healthy diet, but regular intake significantly increases risks, so limiting it remains the best choice for overall health.
Sugary drink consumption is also associated with lower intakes of milk, calcium, and other nutrients. However, Mohr notes that an occasional soda is okay. "If it's Friday night pizza and you want to have a soda, great. But I would definitely not recommend a daily soft drink by any means," he said.
Practical limit: 0--1 small can (12 oz) per day for most adults if no other sources of added sugar are consumed; better to aim for none or just a few per week. If overweight, diabetic, insulin resistant, pregnant, or with dental disease or high triglycerides, avoid sugary sodas entirely.
Soda is bad for a person's health. Widespread evidence indicates that sugar-sweetened and diet soda can contribute to weight gain, tooth decay, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular problems. Alternatives to soda are widely available. They include water, milk, coffee, tea, and even fruit juices in moderation.
It suggests that sugary drink consumption has no negative effects on health if you're physically active." Researchers saytwo sodas every seven days could be considered relatively low by many consumers — yet still presented significant health risks.
There's no single "#1 unhealthiest soda," as different sodas rank poorly for different reasons (sugar, dyes, acids), but Mountain Dew often appears at the top due to its high sugar, high acidity (citric acid), and artificial dyes (Yellow 5), creating a "perfect storm" for tooth decay and enamel erosion, while dark sodas like Cola are high in potentially concerning caramel coloring and caffeine. Ultimately, any soda high in sugar, acidic, and artificially colored is extremely unhealthy, making dark and bright yellow/orange sodas generally the worst offenders, according to health experts.
The 1-2-3 drinking rule is a guideline for moderation: 1 drink per hour, no more than 2 drinks per occasion, and at least 3 alcohol-free days each week, helping to pace consumption and stay within safer limits. It emphasizes pacing alcohol intake with water and food, knowing standard drink sizes (12oz beer, 5oz wine, 1.5oz spirits), and avoiding daily drinking to reduce health risks, though some health guidance suggests even lower limits.
When you choose a sugary soda instead of alcohol every day, you may think you're doing your liver a favor. But that daily soft drink can be harmful, especially to your liver — as damaging as alcohol can be. Once it reaches the liver, the sugar in beverages can get converted into fat that's stored in liver cells.
11 Healthy Sodas
Soda and other sugary drinks may contribute to acne breakouts due to their high sugar content. Try swapping soda for water or drinks with minimal or no sugar to help improve skin health. Tasty options include unsweetened iced tea or flavored sparkling water that has no added sugar.
The healthiest fizzy drinks are plain sparkling water or seltzer, offering carbonation without sugar or calories, with flavored versions or homemade infusions (fruit, herbs) as great next steps; for gut health, kombucha and kefir are excellent probiotic choices, but check labels for added sugar, while low-sugar sodas (like those with prebiotics/probiotics) or unsweetened iced tea are good alternatives to regular soda.
Most public health organizations recommend sticking to under 12 ounces of sugar-sweetened beverages per week , which is equivalent to 1 can of soda per week.”
Drinks rich in nitric oxide-boosting compounds, such as beetroot juice, green tea, and pomegranate juice, help open blood vessels and enhance circulation. These drinks aid in stimulating blood flow, lowering systolic blood pressure, and reducing the risk of arterial stiffness.
Despite these health risks, the occasional Coke Zero is ok. But as we have discussed, it is probably not something you should be drinking every day. For a healthier refreshing drink, you could try fruit-infused water, unsweetened tea, kombucha, or carbonated water without artificial sweetener or flavour added.
Water or Fizzy Drinks? Soda is loaded with sugar and calories but does nothing for your health except affect it negatively. Soda may sound like a perfect solution to your thirst and the sweetness of it may be enticing, however the frequent visits to the restroom maybe one of the reasons you should always choose water.
Compared with drinking sugary beverages less than once per month, drinking one to four per month was linked with a 1% increased risk; two to six per week with a 6% increase; one to two per day with a 14% increase; and two or more per day with a 21% increase.
Nitro Pepsi Draft Cola (ranked 1st) is the most sugary soda on our list of 100 popular soft drinks. It has 55 g of sugar per 12-oz serving (110% DV). This is 1.5 times more than the recommended added sugar limit of 40 g per day.
Cut the Cola: 10 Healthy (and Delicious) Soda Alternatives
Drink water, tea, or coffee (with little or no sugar). Limit milk/dairy (1-2 servings/day) and juice (1 small glass/day). Avoid sugary drinks. The more veggies — and the greater the variety — the better.
“When comparing soda to alcohol, soda will have way less harmful negative side effects,” says Moskovitz. But while “an occasional soft drink will trump a cocktail anytime,” she adds, neither choice is “nutritious.”
In addition, soft drinks present too much sugar for the intestine to absorb. Unabsorbed sugar promotes the proliferation of specific bacterial genera. These bacteria typically cause inflammation and reduce the integrity of the gut epithelium barrier.
Physical Symptoms of Excessive Soda Consumption
The effects of drinking too much soda include health repercussions such as jitteriness, weight gain, and heart issues, highlighting the importance of understanding these health effects to make informed dietary choices.
Usually this is based on behaviour over the last 12 months or more, but alcohol dependence could be diagnosed based on continuous (daily or almost daily) for at least one month.
The "20-minute rule for alcohol" is a simple strategy to moderate drinking: wait 20 minutes after finishing one alcoholic drink before starting the next, giving you time to rehydrate with water and reassess if you truly want another, often reducing cravings and overall intake. It helps slow consumption, break the chain of continuous drinking, and allows the body a natural break, making it easier to decide if you've had enough or switch to a non-alcoholic option.
If you do experience early symptoms of ARLD, these are often quite vague, such as: