Sugary Drinks Make You Crave More Calories, Study Shows

Sugary Drinks Dull Tastebuds, Increase Cravings

An apple a day keeps the doctor away, and just two sugary drinks can have the opposite effect.

According to the Guardian, UK researchers are suggesting that two sugary drinks a day can dull your taste buds, which leads to a "dulled sensitivity to sweet tastes." This, in turn, can cause people to seek out high-calorie, sweet snacks.

"As the sweet 'treat' becomes less rewarding, so people tend to look for more sweet food to drink, and a vicious circle of eating sweet and calorie-laden food is established," a press release describing the study explained.

Perhaps even more notable is that the researchers concluded that it doesn't take long for the sweet beverages to have an effect. The researchers found that by drinking two sugary drinks per day for four weeks, people could dramatically change how they taste and thus, their eating habits.

And not for the better.

"From our research, it is clear to see how this situation may have created a cycle of sweet food and drink consumption," Dr. Hans-Peter Kubis, one of the study's authors said in a statement. "As taste satisfaction levels drop; the more sweet foods are consumed, contributing to these problems."

This is just the latest in bad press for sugary libations, which have been blamed for everything from damaging teeth to increasing blood pressure.

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