Heart Disease Health Center

1 Sugary Drink a Day May Raise Heart Risk

Sugar-Sweetened Drinks and Heart Disease: Diet Advice

Those who love such drinks don’t have to give them up entirely, Hu says. "One or two a week, I don't think that's going to be a major problem," he says.

"We should treat soda as some kind of treat, not a regular event," he tells WebMD.

The American Heart Association recommends drinking no more than 450 calories of sugary drinks a week. That's fewer than three 12-ounce sugared drinks.

On a given day, about one of two people in the U.S. drinks a sugary drink, the CDC reports. One in 20 drinks more than four 12-ounce sugared beverages per day, it finds.