One popular aspect of British diets is massively increasing our heart disease risk

If you think about the biggest killers, you might assume cancers top the list. But in actuality, heart diseases are by far and away the deadliest.

Per Our World in Data, 33% of disease-related global deaths are cardiovascular, including heart attacks, strokes, and other heart or circulatory conditions.

By comparison, only 18% of global deaths are caused by cancers.

Generally speaking, dietary and exercise advice often focuses on the ways in which lifestyle changes can minimise cancer risk. With almost twice the number of people dying from heart-related conditions each year, there’s a disproportionately low focus on how those lifestyle decisions could help to limit the risk of cardiovascular disease, too.

Cardiovascular illnesses account for 33% of disease-related deaths globally (Luis Alvarez/Getty Images)

Beyond moderating your salt, sugar and fat intake, there are some other dietary changes you can make to keep your heart healthy, with ultra-processed foods (UPFs) often in the spotlight for their heightened heart disease risk.

But it turns out there’s one UPF in particular that’s worth paring back or eliminating altogether from your diet: fizzy pop.

Data indicates that 322 cans of fizzy drinks are consumed per person in the UK each year, or the equivalent of a little more than two litres a week. That’s a pretty staggering amount, and when you consider the artificial sweeteners, sugars, colourings and preservatives inherent to those drinks, it’s clearly a huge source of UPF nasties in the British diet.

The researchers’ examining this data took it from the NHS Nurses’ Health Study. It polled 75,735 female nurses aged 30 to 55, along with 90,813 aged 25 to 42 polled years later. Data from yet another study covering 40,409 men aged 40 to 75 was also included.

Essentially, the conclusion drawn from all that data was that those who regularly or heavily consumed fizzy drinks had an increased risk of developing cardiovascular diseases.

Professor Gunter Kuhnle, a food scientist at the University of Reading, recently posted the study’s graph on X, to explain that most UPF foods ‘actually protect and reduce disease risk’, just not sugary drinks.

For example, yogurt is an UPF, but it actually lowers your cardiovascular risk.

That can also be said for things like whole wheat bread, and grainy breakfast cereals.

We're drinking an average of over two litres of pop per person each week (Catherine Falls Commercial/Getty Images)

Referring to the study, Professor Gunter Kuhnle from the University of Reading told MailOnline: “Most studies show people who consume a lot of soft drinks, especially sugar and sweetened drinks, are more likely to be obese and suffer diabetes, as well as other diseases.

“The data show a huge impact of sugar sweetened beverages and processed meat, while everything else is very neutral.”