Protocol · not graded
Sugar-sweetened drinks
A liter a day of sugar-sweetened cola compared with milk, diet cola or water, and what it did to stored fat and blood lipids.
At a glance
This page is about sugared soda. In one six-month trial, 47 overweight adults drank a liter a day of regular cola, milk, diet cola or water. The cola group stored much more fat in the liver, in muscle and around the organs, and had higher blood fats. Total body fat did not differ. The trial has not been repeated at that length.
One 6-month trial found a liter a day of sugared cola raised liver and visceral fat compared with milk, diet cola or water; not graded.
Why this letter
Not graded. One small 6-month randomized trial measured fat stored in the liver, muscle and around the organs, and blood lipids; it did not test glucose control as an outcome, and it has not been replicated The same finding reproduced by a separate research group. A result seen once can be chance or bias; a replicated one is harder to explain away. at that length.
Evidence notes: randomized trial, not independently replicated
Last reviewed: October 2026
Dose, form and timing
No outcome target is established.
Grade history
How this letter has changedLatest: No. 355 · October 2026 · Corrected.
The nutrition page's liquid sugar entry had no citation. It now cites Maersk et al. (Am J Clin Nutr, 2012; PMID PubMed ID: the permanent number the US National Library of Medicine gives a published paper. Each one links to that paper's record on PubMed. 22205311), a 6-month randomized trial in 47 overweight adults in which a liter a day of sugar-sweetened cola raised liver and visceral fat compared with milk, diet cola or water. One small trial carries no letter.PMID 22205311
Every change to a letter on this site is dated and published. The full evidence log →
Sources
The evidence, in fullOne paper, linked to its PubMed record.
Maersk et al. (Am J Clin Nutr, 2012; PMID 22205311): randomized 6-month trial in 47 overweight adults assigned to 1 liter a day of sucrose-sweetened cola, semi-skimmed milk, aspartame-sweetened diet cola or water. Compared with the other three drinks, regular cola raised liver fat by 132 to 143%, skeletal muscle fat by 117 to 221% and visceral fat by 24 to 31%, with blood triglycerides 32% and total cholesterol 11% higher. Total fat mass did not differ between groups.
Disclosure
Educational use only · Not medical advice · EBL grades published human evidence and does not recommend treatment.
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