The soda market is a multi-billion dollar market in the US alone and soda consumption in that market has recently fallen to a 30-year low; marked as the 11th consecutive year that the soda market has seen a steady decline.

The drop in soda consumption has been regarded as the single most significant change to the average American diet over the past decade.

Many health experts maintain that soda isn't the best option to go with for a drink if you are looking to foster optimal health. And researchers have recently sought to further investigate the possible link between soda consumption and the brain to find out if there is any cause for concern.

Researchers at Boston University just recently published their findings in the journals Alzheimer's & Dementia and Stroke.

For their study they involved more than 4,000 participants and they claim that this is the first study of its kind to report on a possible association between a daily consumption of artificially sweetened soft drinks and a possible increased risk of dementia.

The researchers insist that more study is still needed in order to determine the effects of consuming diet soda or regular soda and how it might impact the brain and body. But they did find that excess sugar, like that which is found in popular soft drinks, can possibly damage your brain.

They found that for people who had sugary beverages more frequently, that they likely had poorer memory, a smaller hippocampus, and smaller overall brain volume.

And diet soda was found to be worse, with individuals who drank that option on a daily basis showing that they were almost 3x as likely to develop dementia or a stroke when compared with those folks who didn't drink the diet sodas. This evidence adds to that which is already available that supports the notion that diet drinks might not be that much healthier than sugary soda drinks are.

Correlation ≠ Causation

Although they found a correlation, they point out that it can't be definitively stated that consuming diet soda drinks is going to damage the brain. However, their findings do add to the already growing realization for many that those who frequently consume this stuff quite often tend to have poorer health. Perhaps this is why the soda industry has seen steady decline over the past decade.

banner by @son-of-satire

Pics:
Pixabay
Fortune

All material on this post is provided for information purposes only and may not be construed as medical advice or instruction, diagnosis, or treatment. If an individual has a med­ical con­cern, no action or inaction should be taken based on the information provided in this post. He or she should always con­sult with their own appropriately-licensed physi­cian or other health care specialist.

Sources:
http://fortune.com/2016/03/29/soda-sales-drop-11th-year/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2016/03/30/contribution-of-u-s-soda-sales-in-coca-colas-revenue-could-decline-to-less-than-15-by-2020/#459d1c456533
http://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-care/diet-sodas-raise-risk-dementia-stroke-study-finds-n749051
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/04/170420162254.htm
http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/20/health/diet-sodas-stroke-dementia-study/