Any time I use the words “soda” and “study” in the same sentence, it’s never good news for soda. I can’t recall a single study that shows soda benefits anything other than the bank accounts of the people who sell it.

And the latest research is no exception.

A new look at data on 42,883 men between the ages of 40 and 75 finds that those who drank the most sugary drinks had a 20 percent higher risk of a heart attack during the 22-year study — a link that held even after adjusting for risk factors such as smoking, activity levels and a family history of heart problems.

What’s more, the researchers found that for each serving of a sugary drink you down in a day — like one 12-ounce cola — your risk of cardiovascular disease is boosted by 19 percent.

In addition, the men who drank the most sugary drinks also had lower levels of HDL cholesterol — that’s the good stuff — and higher levels of deadly triglycerides.

Think that’s bad? Hold on — because the study in Circulation gets even worse: Men who drank the most soda had the highest levels of C-reactive protein, or CRP. That’s an inflammation marker that can mean anything from heart disease to cancer to an autoimmune disorder.

But none of this should be surprising, since all of these problems have been linked to sugar before — and drinks are one of the biggest sources of sugar in the modern diet.

A single can of soda, for example, has roughly 40 grams of the sweet stuff. That’s like going to Starbucks and ordering a “tall” (or what the rest of us call a “small”) 12-ounce coffee… and putting 10 sugars into it.

It’s an insane amount of sugar.

For some incredible visuals on just how much of it is in each can, bottle, and Big Gulp, check out the images on the “Sugar Stacks” website.

All that sweet stuff is bound to play havoc with your body. Along with all the risks I mentioned earlier, even a moderate soda habit can cause your blood sugar levels to spike — eventually leading to metabolic syndrome and even diabetes.

Don’t fall into the trap of thinking you’ll be any safer switching to diet either. Other studies have found that diet soda drinkers actually gain weight — and at least one study linked diet soft drinks to an increased heart risk of its own, along with an increased risk of stroke.

I’m not done with soda yet — keep reading for more.

If Earl Grey tea is known for anything other than its noble name, it’s the distinct smell of bergamot.

That’s an orange grown in the Mediterranean, especially the Calabria region of southern Italy, and new research shows it can do so much more than add fragrance to a cup of tea.

In fact, this stuff is nothing short of a citrus miracle – because one month of bergamot extract can help slash your cholesterol levels, cut your blood sugar down to size, and even help you to lose weight.

Go brew your own cup of Earl Grey while I break this one down.

More than 200 Italian patients with a history of high cholesterol were given a bergamot extract from Australia called BergaMet. After just one month, their LDL (“bad”) cholesterol levels plunged by 39 percent while their HDL (“good”) cholesterol levels shot up by 41 percent.

The bergamot supplement appears to work a little like statins in that it blocks the enzyme that creates cholesterol. But since it uses a different mechanism, it doesn’t appear to cause any of the notorious statin side effects like muscle pain and liver damage.

That alone should be enough to make bergamot smell even better than it does already – but that’s not all it did: The patients in the study also saw a 22 percent reduction in their blood sugar levels, which could help reduce their risk of metabolic syndrome and even diabetes.

And for the icing on the cake, another study under way in Australia finds it may even help people to lose weight. One badly obese patient taking part in that one lost nearly 30 pounds in the first month alone.

The “catch” here is that cup of tea you’re sipping on is a good start, but it won’t come close to matching the levels given to patients in the new studies. You can find bergamot extract here and there, but they’re not all that popular yet – and many of them are geared towards aromatherapy and shouldn’t be ingested.

So if you want to give this stuff a try, speak to a naturopathic physician about the best way to get it first.

And go ahead and brew that cup of tea anyway. It certainly can’t hurt – and it tastes great, too.

Ever watch someone with sleep apnea? It’s one of the most frightening — and unforgettable — things you’ll ever see.

One minute, the sleeper is snoring away. The next, nothing.

At first, you might be thankful for the quiet — until you realize the reason for that sudden silence: they’re not breathing.

Someone with apnea can go through dozens of breathless bouts per night and never even realize it — but in this case, what you don’t know can not only hurt you… it can kill you, too.

Apnea has been linked to everything from sexual dysfunction and metabolic syndrome to diabetes and heart disease — but now, researchers have confirmed that it’s not too late for people already fighting that nightly battle.

The standard mainstream treatment for apnea is an oxygen mask called CPAP, for continuous positive airway pressure. In a new study, 86 patients with moderate to severe apnea were assigned to either the real CPAP mask or a sham treatment.

After three months, the volunteers took a one-month break… then switched places for another three months.

When they got the real CPAP, the volunteers saw drops in blood pressure and cholesterol levels — including an average dip of nearly 20 points in dangerous triglycerides — as well as better control of their blood sugar levels.

More importantly, they also lost weight — and while most of the patients were battling metabolic syndrome at the start of the study, 13 percent no longer had the condition after the three months of CPAP, according to the study in the New England Journal of Medicine.

But does all the credit go to that mask?

The researchers say they’re not sure — and I’m not either, because while CPAP can help get you through the night, the best way to beat apnea isn’t with oxygen — it’s with lifestyle changes.

And it starts with losing some weight — like the patients in this study managed to do. Studies have shown that even modest weight loss can end the apnea as well as slash your risk of diabetes and heart disease.

Lose that weight yourself, and you’ll not only look and feel better than you have in years — you’ll sleep better, too.

No wonder we’re fatter and sicker than ever and getting worse every day: New numbers from the CDC show that half of all Americans over the age of TWO YEARS OLD drink at least one soda a day.

Notice the words “at least.” Check out these numbers:

• 70 percent of boys between 2 and 19 get an average of 273 daily calories from sugary drinks alone.
• Men from 20 – 39 are a close second, at 252 daily calories from these drinks.
• 40 percent of adult women between 20 and 39 getting an average of 138 daily calories from the beverages.
• Teen girls take in 171 per day.

Ready for the worst part? Five percent of Americans — in real numbers, that’s some 15 million people — swallow 567 liquid sugar calories a day.

That’s like an entire meal made of soda.

Of course, the beverage industry is spilling that tired old line about no link between their drinks and disease, and they’re claiming that sugary beverages can be part of a healthy lifestyle.

They even have the mainstream on board with this nonsense, with groups like the American Heart Association declaring that people can have three sugary drinks a week and still be “healthy.”

I wonder if that position has anything to do with all the soda companies on the AHA’s Industry Nutrition Advisory Panel. (Take a look at the members here it if you’re curious — and remember, everyone on this list paid the AHA $10K to join.)

The reality is that sugary drinks have been linked to obesity, diabetes, heart disease, metabolic syndrome, and even cancer.

If you love your soda, you’re not going to like hearing this — but there’s simply no reason to drink this stuff at all, and not just because of the sugar. These drinks are chemical nightmares. Even the coloring used in many sodas has been linked to cancer. (Read more here.)

Whatever you do, don’t switch to diet. As bad as the real stuff is, artificial sweeteners can be even worse. Aspartame, for example, has been linked to headaches, asthma, seizures, nerve damage, sleep disorders, mood problems, and more.

If you need some fizz, stick to seltzer. Otherwise, make your drink of choice coffee or tea.

Unsweetened, of course.