See those people in the soda aisle? They all have something in common: a higher risk of heart disease.

Are you one of them? Unfortunately, even if you drink just one 12-ounce soft drink daily -- be it regular or the diet kind -- you may be. Why?

Give Us Our Daily Drink
Drinking one or more 12-ounce sodas per day is associated with a higher incidence of heart-disease risk factors. So what's in soda that's so bad for your ticker? Might be nothing, actually. Those people who frequent the soda aisle may simply share some unhealthy habits. Like hitting up the candy and chips aisle, too. Or skipping their workouts. (No excuses! Here's a gentle chi-gong workout anyone can do.) Then again, there could be some ingredient in soda that's not so good for your body, like coloring or flavor additives.

Better Beverages
If you love a soda now and then, do a quick whole-health inventory, and make sure you're not doing anything else that could potentially boost your blood pressure, blood sugar, waist size, triglycerides, or cholesterol. Or consider tea or coffee when you need a low-cal pick-me-up. Hot or iced, both are chock-full of heart-healthy antioxidants. (Read up on some surprising health benefits of coffee.) And, of course, nothing beats water when it comes to quenching your thirst. Here's how much water you should drink daily to stay healthy.

What foods are "must haves" for heart health? Find out here.

Soft drink consumption and risk of developing cardiometabolic risk factors and the metabolic syndrome in middle-aged adults in the community. Dhingra, R., Sullivan, L., Jacques, P. F., Wang, T. J., Fox, C. S., Meigs, J. B., D'Agostino, R. B., Gaziano, J. M., Vasan, R. S., Circulation 2007 Jul 31;116(5):480-488.