Sugary beverages bad for heart health: Study - Soft drinks and other beverages sweetened with sugar can put a person's cardiovascular health at risk, according to a new study.

According to author Vasanti Malik, a nutrition research scientist at Harvard's T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, the added sugar in fruit drinks, sweet teas, energy drinks and sodas affects the body in ways that increase risk of heart disease, heart attack and stroke.

As per the study, consuming 1-2 servings a day of sugar-sweetened beverages has been associated to a 35 percent greater risk of heart attack or fatal heart disease, 26 percent increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes and 16 percent increased risk of stroke.

Malik said that sugar-sweetened beverages account for about one-half of added sugars in the U.S. 1 can of regular soda contains about 35 grams of sugar, which is equal to almost 9 teaspoons.

The researchers said that manufacturers most often use either table sugar or high-fructose corn syrup to sweeten beverages. Both sugar sources contain approximately equal parts of two simple sugars, fructose and glucose.

Both glucose and fructose damage the heart. Glucose increases blood glucose and causes insulin levels to rise, which can lead to the development of type 2 diabetes, while diabetes is a risk factor for heart disease.

Malik said that fructose also causes heart health issues and its presence can prompt the liver to release triglycerides and "bad" LDL cholesterol into the bloodstream. Too much fructose can lead to fatty liver disease.

He further added that overconsumption of fructose can lead excessive uric acid in the blood, which is linked to a greater risk of gout, a painful inflammatory arthritis. Inflammation also has been linked to heart disease, Malik said.

The report has been published on Sept. 28 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.