The belly-fat connection: There's a clear link between added sugar and the need for a bigger belt, and not just because sugar has a lot of calories. Sugar triggers blood-sugar spikes, which leads to insulin spikes and stomach-fat storage, says Chaparro. The sugar-less soda you grab to fight the 3 p.m. slump may not be any better. Over the course of 10 years, older people who drank diet soda even occasionally saw their waist circumference increase nearly three times as much as people who didn't drink diet soda, on average, found a study in the
Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. (Daily drinkers' waists expanded by almost four times as much.) Keep in mind, though, that this study only showed a link between artificially sweetened soda and belly fat, not cause and effect.
The flatter-belly fix: Choose lower-sugar coffee drinks or teas for your morning caffeine fix. And go for seltzer or sparkling water instead of sodas (regular or diet), says Chaparro.
