The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
SODA BOOSTS RISK OF DEATH, STUDY FINDS
Regular consumption of soft drinks — both sugarsweetened and artificially sweetened — has been associated with a greater risk of all causes of death, according to new research published this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
About the study
The study, one of the largest of its kind, tracked 451,743 men and women from 10 countries in Europe, including Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. The mean age of the participants was 50.8, and 71.1% were female. A total of 50 international researchers tracked the participants from 1992 to 2000, surveying them on their food and drink consumption. Participants were excluded if they reported incidents of cancer, heart disease, stroke or diabetes.
What it means
Participants who drank two or more glasses of artificially sweetened soft drinks per day had a higher risk of mortality from circulatory diseases than those who consumed fewer than one glass per month.
For sugar-sweetened soft drinks, one or more glasses a day were associated with deaths from digestive diseases, including diseases of the liver, appendix, pancreas and intestines.
Similar results have been shown in several recent studies, but the researchers cautioned that elevated soft drink consumption may be a marker for an overall unhealthy lifestyle. Researchers, however, found no link between soft drink consumption and overall cancer death or deaths from Alzheimer’s disease.
Why it matters
According to the American Heart Association, sweetened drinks are the biggest source of added sugar in our diet. In the United States, the percentage of obese children and adolescents has more than tripled since the 1970s, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 40% of adults are obese, according to the American Medical Association.