Just one can of soda can seriously impact your health, study shows

One measly can of soda couldn’t possibly do any harm, right? Well, according to a new study, even a small serving of the sugar-packed beverage can play a Big Gulp role in your health.

After monitoring 11,218 women’s soda-intake habits (both regular and diet) and weight over a two-year period, researchers found those who cut back a can a week gained one pound less than the those who didn’t. And, the women who drank an additional can of soda each week gained .66 pounds more than the women who kept their intake the same.

Those who cut back a can a week gained one pound less than those who didn’t.

Additionally, participants who drank a daily can of soda gained an average of two pounds by the end of the study.

While fluctuating a few pounds totally seems like NBD, keep in mind that the uptick in the study was only due to soda intake—not other factors that can cause weight gain, like a poor diet and a lack of exercise due to too much time watching Netflix.

Since being overweight can impact your health greatly—by leading you to diabetes and cardiovascular disease, among other things—it’s extra alarming that soft-drink habits alone could bridge the difference: “It is likely that changes in weight and waist circumference would be larger if the changes in sugar-sweetened soda consumption are sustained over time,” according to the research, as reported by Time.

“It is likely that changes in weight would be larger if the changes in sugar-sweetened soda consumption are sustained over time.”

Instead of sipping soda, it might be time to ditch the can of sugar for something a little better for you—and no, that doesn’t mean diet (or sugar-free) varieties, since those might even be worse.

There are plenty of other tasty alternatives, though, like healthy sparkling water. LaCroix does have a new flavor out, after all.

Take a look at these low-sugar cocktails a wellness pro would actually order. Then, find out what happened when one family ditched soda for green juice.