​Regular drinking of sugar-sweetened beverages may promote the development of fatty liver disease.

This study investigated the effect of high dietary ingestion of diet soda and sugar-sweetened beverages on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease risk. Researchers collated and analyzed data on the sugary drink intake and the incidence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease among 2,634 men and women recruited from the Framingham Health Study Cohort.

Researchers discovered that generous intake of sugar-sweetened beverages increased the risk of having non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, especially in overweight and obese individuals. On the other hand, regular drinking of diet soda did not have any significant effect on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease risk in this study The findings of this study indicate that habitual consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages may contribute to the high incidence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in the general population.