Overview

• Drinking more than about one 250 g can per day was associated with higher MASLD risk: roughly 60% for low- or non‑sugar‑sweetened beverages and about 50% for sugar‑sweetened drinks.
• Artificially sweetened beverages were additionally linked to a higher risk of liver‑related death, whereas sugary drinks did not show a significant association with liver mortality in this analysis.
• The study followed 123,788 UK Biobank participants without baseline liver disease for a median 10.3 years, during which 1,178 developed MASLD and 108 died from liver‑related causes.
• Replacing either beverage type with water was associated with lower MASLD risk—around a 15% reduction for diet drinks and about 13% for sugary drinks—while switching between the two did not lower risk.
• Researchers noted limitations including self‑reported intake, UK Biobank’s limited generalizability, and lack of data on specific sweeteners, and they advised limiting both drink types pending confirmatory research.