A study highlights the unsuspected dangers of soft drinks on liver health. Even moderate consumption could lead to serious complications.
When a simple can becomes a major risk
Whether it’s hot or cold, do you never leave your can of soda? Bad habit, warn specialists. A recent study reveals that just one soft drink per day could be enough to trigger an inflammatory process in the liver, sometimes with serious consequences. Dr Gérald Kierzek, medical director of True Medical, is sounding the alarm on this still too discreet condition.
According to researchers, even moderate amounts of sugary or artificially sweetened beverages are associated with “an increased risk of liver disease.” Consuming only 25 centiliters of a sugary drink each day would increase the risk of developing “fatty liver associated with metabolic dysfunction (MASLD) of 50%“, while a diet drink in the same proportions would increase “this risk by 60%”, specified the scientists during the United European Gastroenterology Week congress, organized in Berlin on Monday October 6, 2025.
A silent disease but with serious consequences
MASLD, or metabolic fatty liver disease, corresponds to an accumulation of fat in the cells of the liver, an organ which normally contains very little. As Health Insurance explains, “the liver, which contains very little fat when healthy, can be the site of this concentration. We then speak of steatosis of the liver or steatotic hepatopathy or, in common language, of ‘fatty liver’. Thus, any liver which contains an excess of fats (triglycerides) is a steatotic liver.“.
Researchers point out that this is the most common form of liver disease in the world. Without treatment, this inflammation can progress to fibrosis, cirrhosis, or even liver cancer. “Our study shows that low or unsweetened drinks are actually linked to a higher risk of MASLD, even for modest consumption such as just one can per day“, underlines Lihe Liu, lead author of the study and doctoral student in the department of gastroenterology at the First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, China.
Why just one can is enough to damage the liver
The impact of a single daily soda could be explained by its composition. “The impact on the liver of a single daily can of soda is mainly explained by the high content of fast sugars which promote the accumulation of fats in liver cells, leading to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (MASLD).“, explains Dr Gérald Kierzek.
This accumulation promotes chronic inflammation likely to lead to irreversible damage. “Even one 33 cl can per day is enough for this condition, regardless of weight or other classic risk factors such as diabetes or obesity.“, alerts the emergency doctor.
And the danger doesn’t stop with diet drinks. “‘Light’ sodas are not free of risk, because they maintain an addiction to sweet taste and also increase the risk of MASLD, sometimes more than classic sugary sodas. This silent toxicity of soda on the liver, often unrecognized, contributes to a growing epidemic of liver diseases, sometimes at a young age, with potentially severe long-term consequences…“, he concludes.
Something to think about before opening your next can.