Believe it or not, but the absolute worst drink for your health might not be alcoholic in nature.
This insight comes from a heart surgeon named Dr. Jeremy London, who recently detailed the ‘four things’ he religiously avoids to protect his longevity.
Posting on his social media channel, the doctor started with the obvious: smoking, which was recently overtaken by vaping in the UK.
“Number one, smoking: no question the single worst thing you can do for your entire body,” he wrote on Instagram. “Destroys your lungs, causes lung cancer, high cardiovascular risks, heart attacks and strokes, don’t smoke.”
Next on Dr. London’s list was booze, which he went as far as to label ‘toxic to every cell in your body’, as well as the consumption of breads, pastas, refined flours and wheats.
And finally, we have this so-called ‘liquid death’.
It’s time to watch out for ‘liquid death’, according to a heart doctor (Getty Stock Image)The dangers of soft and fizzy drinks
“Liquid death,” Dr. London called the likes of soft drinks and fizzy pop.
“Just don’t drink them,” he urged. “Period. Done.”
Interestingly, the healthcare professional spoke to TODAY in a subsequent interview, where he claimed that his extreme attack on fizzy drinks was an attention tactic.
“I think that soft drinks are just a scourge in our society, and so I was really trying to get some attention,” he admitted.
“Obviously, high-calorie soft drinks and ingesting a lot of calories that people don’t realise they’re getting with the sugar-based soft drinks is a big no-no.”
Then there’s Dr. William Li’s proposal that soft drinks are a little under the radar compared to other health-threatening products.
Fizzy drinks are incredibly bad for our heart health (Getty Stock Image)
Per the ZOE Science & Nutrition podcast, he doubled down on the sentiment shared by Dr. London.
“Soda is everyone’s favourite whipping boy. Rightfully so,” he declared.
“The preponderance of clinical evidence, public health evidence, shows that high consumption of soda is associated with everything from metabolic disease to cardiovascular disease to cancer risk.
“But is it the sugar? Is glucose that demonic element that we need to crucify? Answer’s no. Soda is not just water, otherwise that’d be just carbonated water.
“But soda itself has all these additives, colours, flavourings, preservatives, stabilisers… that is accumulated exposure to toxins. It’s not one exposure, it’s the chronic exposure over time.”
Water is the best thing you can be drinking (Getty Stock Image)The effects of soft drinks on heart health
Research from Harvard Health found a link between a high-sugar diet and heart disease, with it being found that people who drank at least five sugar-sweetened soft drinks a week were more likely to have early signs of heart disease than people who drank less than one weekly.
And while it may not be as enticing, the Heart Foundation urges people to simply drink water when they’re thirsty, as ultimately that is the most heart-healthy drink.
Of course, sugary soft drinks can still be enjoyed in moderation – like most things in life – but healthier alternatives to these high-sugar drinks can include:
Sparkling water (try adding chopped fruit or herbs; for example, fresh mint)Unflavoured milkPlant-based milks with added calcium, like soy, almond, oat, rice milkTeaCoffeeSmall glass (125ml) of 100% fruit or vegetable juice