A study has disclosed that sodas and junk food speed up aging.

Regular use of sodas and junk food may also raise the prevalence and severity of age-linked problems like chronic kidney disease and heart calcification, and can also tempt severe muscle and skin atrophy.

Prof. M. Shawkat Razzaque from the Department of Medicine, Infection and Immunity at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine, said, "Humans need a healthy diet and keeping the balance of phosphate may be important for a healthy life and longevity."

To make this detection, Razzaque and his fellow workers studied the effects of high phosphate levels in three sets of rats.

The initial group of mice was lacking a gene (klotho) that when missing, causes mice to have lethal levels of phosphate inside their torsos. These mice survived 8 to 15 weeks.

The second set of mice was lacking the klotho gene and a second gene (NaPi2a), which when missing at the same time, considerably depressed the amount of phosphate in their bodies. These mice lived up to 20 weeks.

The third group was like the second group, lacking both the klotho and NaPi2a genes, apart from they were given a high-phosphate diet. All of these rats died by 15 weeks, like those in the initial set.

This hints that phosphate has poisonous effects in rats, and may have a similar result in other mammals, including human beings.

"Soda is the caffeine delivery vehicle of choice for millions of people worldwide, but comes with phosphorous as a passenger," said Gerald Weissmann, editor-in-chief of the FASEB Journal, which published the findings. (With Inputs from Agencies)