Drinking sugar-sweetened beverages is associated with a higher proportion of fat stored around internal organs compared to fat stored under the skin.
From These Foods Store Immediately as Visceral Fat · videoSee the scientific wording
Consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages increases the visceral-to-subcutaneous fat ratio in humans.
Correlational — new studies may shift this
Observational3 moderate-quality studies link this claim to the outcome, but causation is not established.
What the research says
3 studies reviewedSupporting (3)
Cross-Sectional StudyHuman2014
People who drink sugary sodas regularly tend to have more fat around their organs (visceral fat) compared to fat under the skin, even if they don’t weigh more overall. This study found that sugary drinks specifically make your body store fat in the dangerous belly area.
Cross-Sectional StudyHuman2025
People who drank more sugary drinks like iced tea had more fat around their organs compared to fat under their skin, and the more sugary drinks they drank, the more organ fat they had.
Sugar-sweetened and diet beverages in relation to visceral adipose tissue
Cross-Sectional StudyHuman2012
People who drink more sugary sodas tend to have more fat around their internal organs compared to fat under their skin, even if they don’t gain overall weight. This means sugary drinks may be especially bad for belly fat that’s linked to health risks.
Contradicting (0)
No contradicting studies found yet
That doesn't mean it's settled — it just means no study has tested the opposite.
Quality-weighted scoring: we follow the GRADE framework — each study is rated High, Moderate, Low, or Very Low based on study design, methodology rigor, and risk of bias. A single high-quality RCT can outweigh several weaker observational studies.
Scores reflect study quality, not just count.
When you drink sugary beverages, the fructose in them goes straight to your liver, where it gets turned into fat. This fat builds up in the liver and makes it less responsive to insulin. As a result, your body stops storing fat under the skin and starts storing it around your organs instead, because the organs get more fat from the blood due to how their fat-storing enzymes work.
Score breakdown, mechanism chain, raw evidence, ideal studies needed & 3 supporting studies
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Drinking sugar-sweetened beverages is associated with a higher proportion of fat stored around internal organs compared to fat stored under the skin.
Mechanism
3 studiesDrinking sugary beverages turns fructose into fat in the liver, which makes the liver resistant to insulin. This causes fat to be stored around organs instead of under the skin because the organs' fat cells are better at pulling fat from the blood. The fat under the skin can't grow enough to hold the extra fat, so it all ends up in the belly.
When you drink sugary beverages, the fructose in them goes straight to your liver, where it gets turned into fat. This fat builds up in the liver and makes it less responsive to insulin. As a result, your body stops storing fat under the skin and starts storing it around your organs instead, because the organs get more fat from the blood due to how their fat-storing enzymes work.
Sucrose or high-fructose corn syrup from sugar-sweetened beverages is broken down in the small intestine into glucose and fructose
Fructose is transported to the liver via the portal vein and metabolized without insulin regulation, leading to increased substrate flux for de novo lipogenesis
Hepatic de novo lipogenesis produces triglycerides that are packaged into very-low-density lipoproteins and secreted into circulation
Hepatic triglyceride accumulation induces systemic insulin resistance, reducing insulin sensitivity of lipoprotein lipase in subcutaneous adipose tissue more than in visceral adipose tissue
Reduced subcutaneous adipose tissue lipoprotein lipase activity and preserved visceral adipose tissue lipoprotein lipase activity cause preferential triglyceride uptake and storage in visceral depots
Visceral adipose tissue accumulates triglycerides while subcutaneous adipose tissue fails to expand, increasing the visceral-to-subcutaneous fat ratio
Less supported by current evidence, but not ruled out
Fructose from sugary drinks can trigger a local increase in cortisol inside fat cells around the organs, which makes those cells pull more fat out of the blood and store it there, while fat under the skin does not respond the same way.
Fructose metabolism generates intermediates that upregulate 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 in visceral adipocytes
Increased enzyme activity converts inactive cortisone to active cortisol within visceral adipose tissue
Elevated local cortisol levels stimulate lipoprotein lipase activity specifically in visceral adipose tissue
Enhanced lipoprotein lipase activity increases triglyceride uptake and storage in visceral adipose tissue relative to subcutaneous adipose tissue
Constant high sugar intake prevents fat under the skin from growing properly, so when the body has too much fat to store, it forces the excess into the area around organs instead.
Chronic fructose and energy overload impairs adipocyte proliferation and differentiation in subcutaneous adipose tissue
Subcutaneous adipose tissue reaches its storage capacity and cannot accommodate additional lipid influx
Lipid flux is redirected from subcutaneous to visceral adipose tissue due to reduced storage capacity in subcutaneous depots
Evidence from Studies
Last searched 3mo ago
Supporting (3)
Community contributions welcome
Sugar-sweetened beverage consumption is associated with abdominal fat partitioning in healthy adults.
People who drink sugary sodas regularly tend to have more fat around their organs (visceral fat) compared to fat under the skin, even if they don’t weigh more overall. This study found that sugary drinks specifically make your body store fat in the dangerous belly area.
Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Consumption and Risk of Visceral Fat Accumulation Among University Students in Thailand.
People who drank more sugary drinks like iced tea had more fat around their organs compared to fat under their skin, and the more sugary drinks they drank, the more organ fat they had.
Sugar-sweetened and diet beverages in relation to visceral adipose tissue
People who drink more sugary sodas tend to have more fat around their internal organs compared to fat under their skin, even if they don’t gain overall weight. This means sugary drinks may be especially bad for belly fat that’s linked to health risks.
Contradicting (0)
Community contributions welcome
Score Breakdown
No multi-axis breakdown available yet. The overall Pro / Against score above is the best signal.
- No clinical evidence is available; the score reflects mechanistic plausibility only.
What Would Prove This
Per GRADE and EBM methodology, here is what ideal scientific evidence would look like to definitively prove or disprove this claim, ordered from strongest to weakest.
Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Intake and Visceral-to-Subcutaneous Fat Ratio in Adults
Population: Adults aged 18–65 with varying levels of sugar-sweetened beverage intake; Intervention: Reported habitual consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages; Comparator: Minimal or no consumption; Outcome: Visceral-to-subcutaneous fat ratio measured by MRI or CT; Duration: Long-term dietary assessment over ≥2 years.
Randomized Controlled Trial of High vs Low Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Intake on Visceral-to-Subcutaneous Fat Ratio Over 6 Months
Population: Healthy adults with stable weight; Intervention: 25% of daily calories from sugar-sweetened beverages; Comparator: Isocaloric replacement with non-sugary beverages; Outcome: Visceral-to-subcutaneous fat ratio via MRI; Duration: 6 months; Design: Double-blind, parallel-group.
Prospective Cohort Study of Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Consumption and Changes in Visceral-to-Subcutaneous Fat Ratio Over 10 Years
Population: 10,000 adults aged 30–50 followed over 10 years; Intervention: Self-reported sugar-sweetened beverage intake at baseline and annually; Comparator: Low vs high consumers; Outcome: Visceral-to-subcutaneous fat ratio measured by CT at baseline and year 10; Adjustment: For BMI, physical activity, total energy intake.
Cross-Sectional Analysis of Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Intake and Visceral-to-Subcutaneous Fat Ratio in a National Health Survey
Population: Representative sample of adults from a national health survey; Intervention: Single-timepoint dietary recall of sugar-sweetened beverage intake; Comparator: Low vs high consumers; Outcome: Visceral-to-subcutaneous fat ratio measured by bioimpedance or DXA; Duration: Single assessment.
Case-Control Study Comparing Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Consumption in Individuals with High vs Low Visceral-to-Subcutaneous Fat Ratio
Population: Cases with visceral-to-subcutaneous fat ratio >90th percentile vs controls with ratio <30th percentile; Intervention: Retrospective assessment of sugar-sweetened beverage intake over previous 5 years; Comparator: Cases vs controls; Outcome: Frequency and volume of consumption; Duration: Retrospective recall over 5 years.