Do you limit yourself to a single soft drink a day, thinking moderation is the key? Think again. New research shows even a single daily soda raises your risk of obesity, diabetes and heart disease.

Danish researchers recently tracked 47 people, monitoring how much soda they drank, as well as diet drinks, skim milk and water. What they found was that drinking even a single bottle of a regular soft drink each day over a six-month period boosted abdominal fat and blood cholesterol.

The study - conducted by the Department of Endocrinology and Internal Medicine Aarhus University Hospital in Denmark and published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition - found study participants who drank skim milk, diet drinks and water had no change in their weight.

“Daily intake of [soda] for 6 months increases ectopic fat accumulation and lipids compared with milk, diet cola, and water,” researchers concluded. “Thus, daily intake of [of regular soft drinks] is likely to enhance the risk of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases.”