Two cans of regular Coca Cola a day can increase the risk of an early death via heart disease by a third, and drinking any sort of fizzy drink in general once a day can increase the risk of premature death by any cause by up to a fifth.
Drinking diet soft drinks is a better option for your health, however if you’re downing around four a day then you’re still increasing your risk of dying young.
In fact, CNN reports that Drinking two or more of any kind of artificially sweetened drinks a day is linked to an increased risk of clot-based strokes, heart attacks and early death in women over 50, according to a new study by the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association.
Previous studies done in the realm of soft drinks and junk food have also found that the six most common artificial sweeteners, that’s aspartame, sucralose, saccharin, neotame, advantame and acesulfame potassium-K, are toxic to good gut bacteria.
These six artificial sweeteners have also been linked to weight gain, reducing the chances of getting pregnant during IVF, tripling the risk of a deadly stroke and dementia, and raising the risk of developing diabetes.
So if soft drinks are your vice, it might be time to replace those cans with a bottle of water.
This article originally appeared on Better Homes & Gardens