GMA medical alert; does soda create heart risk?

The average American drinks roughly 50 cans of soda a month.

We've known that all those calories and sugar in regular soda can be a problem. But now a new study says even diet soda could put you in harm's way. ABC's John Berman has the results of that study. I like how we stacked it up, just in case you didn't know 50 sodas amount.

And if you were to stack up one American's average yearly intake, it would be 240 feet of soda. That's a lot of soda. But now this very big study suggests that all that soda, regular or diet, might be linked to major health problems.

For millions of Americans, soda makes us sing, it makes us dance. But a new study suggests that maybe it should make us think twice.

"Drinking just one or more soda a day may not be as innocuous as people think." DOCTOR RAMACHANDRAN VASAN (BOSTON UNIVERSITY)

Not innocuous at all. The study of some 9,000 people says that those who drink one or more sodas a day are nearly 50% more likely to develop risk factors for heart disease. Specifically, soda drinkers are at a 31% increased risk of obesity, a 30% increased likelihood of an expanding waistline, and a 25% increased risk of have been abnormal sugar levels.

And if you think diet soda will make you immune, think again. Perhaps most surprising in this study, researchers found no difference between people who drink diet or regular soda. How can something with almost no calories have the same effect? It may be more about the people drinking it.

"People who drink soda generally tend to have greater caloric intake. They tend to eat more of saturated fats, trans fats. They tend to eat less fiber and they tend to exercise less." DOCTOR RAMACHANDRAN VASAN (BOSTON UNIVERSITY)

Critics of the study say it's more a statement about lifestyle. To generalize, unhealthy people like soda, rather than people are unhealthy because they drink soda.

" It does not conclusively say this will cause that. And that's important to the public, because we all wanna hear this, 'Tell me the magic answer." CONNIE DIEKMAN (WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY-ST LOUIS)

Now, everyone on both sides agrees that more study is needed and the key to a healthy diet is balance and moderation, especially considering that Americans drink more soda than milk, coffee, beer. That's a lot of soda, Robin.

JOHN BERMAN (ABC NEWS)

•	Good Morning America GMA medical alert; does soda create heart risk? ABC News, Tuesday, July 24, 2007