Sugary Drinks Tied to More Heart Attacks
Men who frequently drink sodas and other sugar-sweetened beverages may be putting themselves at risk of a heart attack, an observational study showed.
In a study of male healthcare professionals, those who consumed the most sugary drinks - a median of 6.5 per week - were 20% more likely to have a myocardial infarction (MI) during follow-up than those who never drank them (RR 1.20, 95% CI 1.09 to 1.33), according to Frank Hu, MD, PhD, of the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, and colleagues.
A similar relationship was not seen for consumption of artificially sweetened diet beverages, they reported online in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.
“These results, as well as those from other observational studies and trials, support recommendations to reduce the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages in order to prevent cardiovascular disease,” the authors wrote.
Sugar-sweetened beverages have been associated with weight gain and type 2 diabetes, but few studies have examined the relationship between the sugary drinks and coronary heart disease.
Hu and colleagues looked at data from the Health Professionals Follow-Up study, a prospective cohort study of mostly white men who were ages 40 to 75 at baseline in 1986.
Soft drinks - soda and other sugary drinks such as sweetened iced tea, fruit drinks and energy drinks - add sugar and calories to your diet without providing much, if any, nutrition. While just one 12 oz. soda contains approximately 8 tsp. of sugar, the recommended daily limit for women equals 6 tsp. and for men equals 9 tsp., MayoClinic.com says. Most Americans average 22 tsp.of sugar per day. Too much sugar in your diet may lead to health problems.
Overweight Children
Soda and other sweetened beverages are significant factors in the increased rate of childhood obesity, which can lead to type 2 diabetes, asthma, sleep apnea and high blood pressure. Adolescents get 15 tsp. of sugar per day from soft drinks, which makes up approximately 11 percent of their total calories, according to the NetWellness website. Excess sugar can also come from juices. Ounce for ounce, cranberry juice cocktail has more sugar than soda, and orange juice has the same amount, according to the Harvard School of Public Health. Harvard recommends that sweetened beverages should be drunk rarely or not at all.
The current analysis included 42,883 participants after excluding those with type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, or cancer at baseline.
The men reported their consumption of sugar-sweetened and artificially sweetened beverages at baseline and every four years using a food frequency questionnaire. At baseline, the average intake was 2.5 sugar-sweetened beverages and 3.4 artificially sweetened beverages each week.
Over 22 years of follow-up, there were 3,683 incident coronary heart disease cases, defined as fatal or nonfatal MIs.
The greater risk of having a heart attack in the quartile with the greatest consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages was significant after controlling for numerous potential confounders, including age, smoking, physical activity, alcohol, multivitamins, family history, diet quality, energy intake, body mass index, pre-enrollment weight change, and dieting.
THE POSITIVE EFFECTS OF SOFT DRINKS
Soft drink commercials often feature the crisp sound of a soda can cracking open, fizzing with refreshing-looking bubbles of carbonated soda. Soft drinks tend to get a bad rap because of their high-calorie, sugar-laden contents. However, there are a handful of positive effects to adding soft drinks to your diet. However, consume with caution, since the bulk of soft drink-related research points to health problems associated with regular or excessive consumption.
Caffeine
Some soft drinks contain caffeine, leading some adults to reach for soft drinks for a quick energy boost. Caffeine can have a stimulating effect on the brain, according to Rice University. It can also improve performance for athletes in endurance sports, although caffeine doesn’t seem to have an effect on shorter, high-intensity exercises. If you’re looking for stimulated mental and endurance capacity, you may benefit from the caffeine in soft drinks.
Water
Carbonated water gives soft drinks that bubbling texture, and it also contributes some positive effects to your body. Carbonated water, especially carbonated mineral water, helps to build bones because of its alkaline, bicarbonate-rich composition, according to “The Times.” Carbonated mineral water helps to keep calcium in your bones, possibly reducing the chances of osteoporosis. Additional positive properties of carbonated mineral water include vitamin K and silica, a mineral that contributes to strong bones. Not all soft drinks are made with carbonated mineral water; this benefit would only apply to sodas made with carbonated mineral water. Carbonated mineral water may also reduce cholesterol levels and contribute to heart health, according to the American Heart Association.
Comparison
“Soft drinks” are called that because they lack the alcohol present in “hard drinks,” which include cocktails and other alcoholic beverages. So, a positive effect of soft drinks is that they offer an alternative to alcohol, which can cause problems for your health. Alcohol can create dependency and addiction issues, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It also damages the body’s liver, pancreas, heart and brain. Consuming hard alcohol, or any alcohol beverage, can be harmful to an unborn fetus.