Consuming sweetened drinks has been linked to diabetes and obesity, but heart issues are something new. Research from the UK is the first to show a possible link between drinks sweetened with sugar or artificial sweeteners and atril fibrillation. A journal of the American Heart Association reports drinking two or more liters of artificially sweetened beverages per week increased risk of afib by twenty percent. Similar amounts of sugar sweetened drinks raised the risk by ten percent. Despite the natural sugar in pure fruit or vegetable juices, drinking one liter or less per week lowered risk of afib about eight percent. The study cautions it cannot prove one beverage poses more health risks than another because of some people may drink more than one kind.