A can of soda raises your blood pressure two points.

The average American drinks 2.3 sugar or high fructose corn syrup sweetened drinks per day. Recent research looked at the effects of this on blood pressure. On average, forgoing one sweetened drink was associated with a two point drop in the systolic blood pressure. No effect on blood pressure was noted from caffeine or diet drinks. It should be noted that research on diet drinks suggest that they may be associated with obesity, so switching to artificial sweeteners is not recommended. Additional news on the sugar front regards a comparison of high fructose corn syrup (HCFS) and sugar. Rats fed HFCS were significantly more obese than those fed table sugar, including developing unhealthy belly fat and having bad triglyceride profiles. This is more shocking as the amount of HFCS used was less than half that used in soda. While table sugar is still not good for you, HFCS may be much worse. As HFCS are found in an amazing variety of our food products (40% of all sweeteners used), it's important to read labels and limit the amount until its safety can be determined. Despite it's heavy usage, this is the first long-term study of the effects of high-fructose corn syrup consumption on obesity in lab animals. A similar study has not been done in humans. Further research is seriously needed.