Dr Jeremy London, a heart surgeon, has shared the four things he 'absolutely avoids'15:55, 29 Jun 2026A heart surgeon has labelled one of the world's most consumed drinks as "liquid death", insisting that people simply shouldn't drink it "period". Dr Jeremy London is board-certified in general surgery, vascular surgery and thoracic surgery, and regularly shares medical guidance via social media and interviews.‌He's by no means the only healthcare expert sounding the alarm about the harmful impact soft drinks can have on our wellbeing. In a post on Instagram, Dr London outlined "four things I absolutely avoid as a heart surgeon".‌These included smoking, alcohol, breads and pastas, and fizzy drinks. He said: "Number one, smoking: no question the single worst thing you can do for your entire body. Destroys your lungs, causes lung cancer, high cardiovascular risks, heart attacks and strokes, don't smoke."‌Booze came second on his list. He said: "Hate to break it to you [but it's] toxic. Toxic to every cell in your body. Your body, your rules, you decide for yourself."For me personally, removing alcohol from my life has probably been one of the most transformative decisions I've made as an adult."‌Soft drinks ranked third on his list. He said: "Liquid death. Just don't drink them. Period. Done."Wrapping up his advice, Dr London stated: "Avoid breads and pastas. Avoid the refined flours and wheats. Eighty percent of weight control is diet, 20% is exercise. I guarantee you can out-eat any exercise that you do."In a subsequent interview with Today, Dr London stood by his stance on soft drinks (also commonly known as fizzy drinks), though he conceded that labelling them as "liquid death" was designed to grab attention: "I think that soft drinks are just a scourge in our society, and so I was really trying to get some attention.‌"Obviously, high-calorie soft drinks and ingesting a lot of calories that people don't realise they're getting with the sugar-based soft drinks is a big no-no."Yet he's far from the only respected medical expert who believes that fizzy drinks pose a greater health threat than most people appreciate.‌Dr William Li recently told the Zoe podcast: "Soda is everyone's favourite whipping boy. Rightfully so. The preponderance of clinical evidence, public health evidence, shows that high consumption of soda is associated with everything from metabolic disease to cardiovascular disease to cancer risk."But is it the sugar? Is glucose that demonic element that we need to crucify? Answer's no. Soda is not just water, otherwise that'd be just carbonated water."But soda itself has all these additives, colours, flavourings, preservatives, stabilisers... that is accumulated exposure to toxins. It's not one exposure, it's the chronic exposure over time."Article continues belowAccording to the NHS, youngsters should steer clear of sugary fizzy drinks, squash and juice drinks entirely as they can harm their teeth. What's more, children who regularly consume lots of sugary beverages are at greater risk of becoming overweight.Instead, health experts recommend switching sugary drinks for diet, sugar-free or no-added-sugar alternatives. Better still, stick to water to keep properly hydrated.