A new research has linked sugar-sweetened drinks with an increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease.
Sugary drinks |
The study published in the journal Circulation, a publication of the
American Heart Association (AHA) showed that when people consumed more
sugary drinks, their risk of death rose accordingly.
To understand this association, the researchers looked at data from
37,716 men in the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study and 80,647 women
in the Nurses’ Health Study.
After controlling for other dietary factors, physical activity, and
BMI, the team determined that these sugary drinks were associated with
higher mortality rates from cardiovascular disease (CVD), as well as
higher cancer rates.
They also looked at the connection between artificially sweetened drinks and death.
The researchers found that replacing a sugary drink with an
artificially sweetened beverage lowered the risk of death somewhat;
however, drinking four or more artificially sweetened beverages was
associated with a higher risk of death among women.
“Drinking water in place of sugary drinks is a healthy choice that
could contribute to longevity,” says Vasanti Malik, the study’s lead
author and a research scientist in the Department of Nutrition at the
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, MA. She continues:
“Diet soda may be used to help frequent consumers of sugary drinks
cut back their consumption, but water is the best and healthiest
choice,” said Malik.
CVD is responsible for more deaths each year than all the types of
cancer and chronic lower respiratory disease combined, and it is the
leading cause of death worldwide.
A number of risk factors are associated with CVD. Smoking tobacco is
one of the biggest risk factors for the disease, as are a lack of
physical activity and poor nutrition.
A healthy lifestyle is a factor that people can directly control when
it comes to CVD, and the AHA have several suggestions about improving
overall health and reducing the onset of the disease.
The AHA recommend that adults focus on getting at least 150 minutes
of moderate physical activity each week. It is also important to avoid
tobacco in any form, including vaping, cigarettes, and nicotine
products.
Nutrition is another key component of cardiovascular health. The AHA
suggest consuming plenty of produce, fibre-rich whole grains, poultry,
and fish. For other meat, look for lean cuts and prepare them without
added fats or excess sodium. Avoid foods high in saturated fat, and add
foods that are rich in “good” fats, such as salmon and avocado.
Another vital goal, nutrition-wise, is avoiding added sugars. This
not only includes sugar-sweetened beverages but foods as well, as added
sugar can really add up over the course of a day and lead to unwanted
effects.
“These findings are consistent with the known adverse effects of high
sugar intake on metabolic risk factors and the strong evidence that
drinking sugar-sweetened beverages increases the risk of type 2
diabetes, itself a major risk factor for premature death,” explains Dr.
Walter Willett, who co-authored the study.
“The results also provide further support for policies to limit
marketing of sugary beverages to children and adolescents and for
implementing soda taxes because the current price of sugary beverages
does not include the high costs of treating the consequences.”
NAN
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