Another reason to stop the Diet Cola’s

Girls that start their periods [menarche] before age 12 are at an increased risk of many conditions, including breast cancer and depression.

A study that followed 2,379 girls 9 to 10 years of age for 10 years was published this September in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition [Mueller NT, et al 2015;102:648-54].

It revealed that every serving of caffeinated soft drink per day increased the risk of early menarche 47%. For each serving per day of artificially sweetened soft drinks, the risk of early menarche increased by 43%.

The researchers did not find any association between noncaffeinated sugar-sweetened soft drinks and early menarche.