Love sweet drinks and get fatty livers, study says

: Researchers at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Gene Mayer Center for Human Aging Nutrition and Tufts University found that bad habits of drinking sugary drinks every day increase people's risk of developing non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.researchers at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Gene Mayer Center for Human Aging Nutrition and Tufts University found that bad habits of drinking sugary drinks every day increase people's risk of developing non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.researchers selected 2,634 participants, most of them middle-white, who participated in a study of the effects of heart health on offspring and third-generation groups organized by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. Sugary beverages in the questionnaire include caffeinated cola, caffeinated cola, other sugar-added carbonated beverages, mixed fruit juices, lemonade and non-carbonated juice drinks. The researchers used computer-scanning techniques to detect the amount of fat around the participants' livers. The results showed that participants who drank more than 1 serving of sugary drinks a day had a higher prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease than those who drank sugar-free beverages. After taking into account factors such as age, gender, height and body mass index, diet and lifestyle, the correlation remained true., published today in the Journal of Liver Disease, suggests a link between sugary drinks and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and other chronic diseases. Sugary drinks are a source of "empty calories" (high in calories, but with little or no essential vitamins, minerals and protein) and people need to control how much they drink.