Here’s the bitter truth about sugar: A 14-year study found a significant link between consuming foods with added sugars (candy, soda, deserts, cereals, fruit juices) and high risk for cardiovascular-related mortality. Of course, it should come as no surprise that added sugars are also significantly associated with an increase in both fat and overall weight.

The nastiness of sugar was further brought to our attention by the “Life Hunters” viral video that documented the “sugar detox” of a seemingly fit young man. After one month without fast food, sugar and alcohol, his cholesterol and blood pressure decreased significantly and he dropped 10 pounds.

Sugar is today’s major public health battleground. Upscale grocers Whole Foods is being sued for misleading customers by renaming sugar “evaporated cane juice” in ingredients lists. Welch Fruit Snacks are also facing a day in court over false advertising: The company claimed its snacks were healthful, but they often contain 40% sugar.

Cities have proposed—though few have passed—soda taxes. But all the talk about sugar is having an effect. Total U.S. carbonated soft-drink sales fell 3% last year, and sales of full-calorie soda in the United States have plummeted by more than 25% over the last two decades. One study by Gallup discovered that nearly two-thirds of Americans say they avoid soda in their diet and that more than half avoid sugar.

This is in contrast to categories like ready-to-drink coffee, bottled water and ready-to-drink tea, which posted volume growths of 19.1%, 6.8%, and 7.4%, respectively, in the first half of 2015.

As the New York Times pointed out, beverage preferences are set in adolescence. With the soda decline steepest among young Americans, a real crisis is developing for America’s pop juggernauts. “If kids grow up without carbonated soft drinks, the likelihood that they are going to grow up and, when they are 35, start drinking [soda] is very low,” Gary A. Hemphill, managing director of research for the Beverage Marketing Corporation, told The Times.