A recent study found people who drank 24 ounces of a sugary beverage daily (but not sugary foods) were 2x as likely to die from heart disease than people that consumed less than one ounce.

Interestingly, consumption of sugar-sweetened foods such as desserts and breakfast cereal was not linked to increased death from heart disease over a 6-year period. This could be because some of the sugar-enriched foods also contained fiber and/or other nutrients that can change how refined sugar is metabolized and it’s effect on the gut. It could also be due to something else…after all, this was not a controlled clinical trial so causation cannot be established from this study.