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Natural Awakenings Richmond

Pass Up Sugary Drinks for a Strong Liver

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Sugar-sweetened drinks, already linked to weight gain, diabetes and heart disease, carry another risk: non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). In a meta-review published in the European Journal of Nutrition, Iranian researchers analyzed six high-quality studies that included 6,326 men and women and 1,361 cases of NAFLD. They found those that drank the most sugary drinks had a 40 percent higher risk of developing the disease compared to those that consumed the least. Sugary drinks include soda, cola, tonic, fruit punch, lemonade, sweetened, powdered drinks, and sports and energy drinks.