Alarming study Diet drinks drastically shorten life expectancy

The conclusion of a new study: excessive consumption of soft drinks can shorten life expectancy by up to 15 percent. Surprisingly, this also includes light and zero drinks.

That highly processed foods such as frozen pizza, delicatessen, schnitzel, sausage and chocolate bars are not healthy - certainly not a surprising finding. However, a new, as yet unpublished study by the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, shows that diet drinks can also shorten life expectancy by up to 15 percent, asCNN writes.

Foods are categorized from unprocessed foods - whole foods such as fruits and vegetables - to highly processed foods such as deli meats and sausages. Diet drinks are considered highly processed foods because they contain artificial sweeteners such as aspartame, acesulfame potassium and stevia, as well as other additives.

The preliminary study analyzed dietary data collected since 1995 from over 500,000 Americans aged 50 to 71. The researchers linked the nutritional data with mortality rates.

"Diet soft drinks contributed the most to the consumption of highly processed foods. Sugary soft drinks were in second place," explains the lead author of the study, Erikka Loftfield.

Risk of heart disease or diabetes

According to the study, there is a higher risk of dying from heart disease or diabetes. "Highly processed meat and soft drinks were some of the subgroups of highly processed foods that were most strongly associated with mortality risk," says Loftfield.

But there is a simple solution to the problem for Loftfield: "We should really focus on a diet rich in whole foods." And drink tea and water instead of diet drinks.