These sorts of studies always end up being observational studies (and meta-analyses of largely observational studies) which cannot determine causation, only correlation. On this magnificent website, you'll see that:
Correlation does not prove causation, and observational studies only find correlation. They are not a completion of the scientific method, only a starting point. Most studies about health and especially diet are questionable because it's extremely difficult to properly isolate and control for confounding factors due to the complexity of the human body and how much we still don't understand about it. Even ignoring that, you basically have to lock people in a facility and strictly control their diet and exercise for long periods of time to conduct a proper study in the first place, and you'd need to do it on thousands of people for the results to be statistically significant. Even after all that, the results of even decently designed studies can be interpreted very differently.
Be skeptical of any study that "finds a link" in the health field. The implied causation may or may not exist. More work needs to be done to confirm causation when you see such a study, but they make fantastic clickbait and media outlets like The Guardian eat it up and present it in the most "stimulating" way possible. It doesn't matter that the most obvious "common sense" confounding factor would be that people who drink soda are much more likely to make bad choices regarding food and exercise.
These sorts of studies always end up being observational studies (and meta-analyses of largely observational studies) which cannot determine causation, only correlation. On this magnificent website, you'll see that:
Correlation does not prove causation, and observational studies only find correlation. They are not a completion of the scientific method, only a starting point. Most studies about health and especially diet are questionable because it's extremely difficult to properly isolate and control for confounding factors due to the complexity of the human body and how much we still don't understand about it. Even ignoring that, you basically have to lock people in a facility and strictly control their diet and exercise for long periods of time to conduct a proper study in the first place, and you'd need to do it on thousands of people for the results to be statistically significant. Even after all that, the results of even decently designed studies can be interpreted very differently.
Be skeptical of any study that "finds a link" in the health field. The implied causation may or may not exist. More work needs to be done to confirm causation when you see such a study, but they make fantastic clickbait and media outlets like The Guardian eat it up and present it in the most "stimulating" way possible. It doesn't matter that the most obvious "common sense" confounding factor would be that people who drink soda are much more likely to make bad choices regarding food and exercise.
"My sense of purpose is gone! I have no idea who I AM!" "Oh, my God... You've.. You've turned him into a DEMOCRAT!" -- Doonesbury