A first ever study came out that has linked sugary soda drinks to accelerated aging.

Researchers have studied the impact of sugary drinks, like soda or lemonade, to speeded DNA aging. While a large number of studies have focused in on the effects of soda on diabetes, weight, and obesity, this is the first study that has linked it to aging.

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Professor Elissa Epel of the University of California in San Francisco led the research team. They began their research by asking 5,309 adults aged between 20 and 65 about their consumption of soda.

Afterwards, they examined the participant's white blood cells. The researchers found telomeres in their white blood cells that were shorter in participants who drank more soda.

Telomeres are protective DNA caps on the end of chromosomes. Each time cells divide, these telomeres, repetitive sections of them, shorten.

The news organization The Guardian likens telomeres to a sort of genetic ticking clock. It has been associated with the length of human lives before, as well as the development of some forms of cancer, heart disease, and diabetes.

Past studies have also linked the shortening of telomeres to lifestyle factors such as smoking and psychological stress.

Epel put forward the question that if this telomere-shortening instance was happening in adults, what about in children?

"It may be a large part of why we have such a vast epidemic of not only obesity as adults, but early disease onset. Soda may be one of the invisible culprits," she said.

While the information they discovered has vast implications to soda consumption, Epel stressed that the study only showed association and not any causal links. The reason of cell ageing could be associated with the huge rush of sugar into cells for instance. 

Tagssoda, soft drinks, accelerated aging, Elissa Epel