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| Sholeh Patrick |
A soda a day keeps health away
Some people drink soda like it's water. Especially in the summer months, when thirst becomes more demanding, reaching for a Coke -- or a diet Pepsi -- without thinking can be dangerous to your health.
A new U.S. study reported Tuesday in Medical News Today found a link between drinking one or more soft drinks per day, whether regular or diet, and a 48 percent increase in the risk of heart disease. Too much soda may thus increase metabolic syndrome, which involves characteristics such as excess girth (big tummy), high blood pressure, and other factors increasing the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular problems.
Findings of the massive Framington Heart Study will be published in the upcoming issue of Circulation, the journal of the American Heart Association. The FHS began in 1948, covering 9,000 participants over three generations (beginning before any of them had symptoms of heart disease or stroke) and a wide array of factors that contribute to heart disease. Food and drink are only a fraction, but soda is so commonly consumed, and diet soda so often perceived by the drinker as "healthier," that it merited its own press release.
"We were struck by the fact that it didn't matter whether it was a diet or regular soda that participants consumed, the association with increased risk was present," said senior study author and Boston University School of Medicine professor Dr. Ramachandran Vasan.
Other studies have linked soft drink consumption with risk factors for heart disease, but this one suggests that diet soft drinks sweetened with artificial sweeteners are just as likely to be linked as high calorie drinks sweetened with sugar.
Metabolic syndrome is a group of symptoms, only three of which are needed to increase the risk of heart attack, stroke, and diabetes. The symptoms include excess waist circumference, high blood pressure, elevated triglycerides, low levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL or "good" cholesterol) and high glucose levels.
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Beverage associations are quick to point out that this doesn't prove soda actually causes heart disease, despite the 9,000 subjects, three generations and a nearly 50 percent increase in correlation. The American Heart Association, which publishes Circulation, said people should understand that the study did not demonstrate that diet sodas themselves cause heart disease and that it can be better to have a diet drink than a full-calorie soda when cutting calories. An increased risk is just that; many factors can contribute to heart disease.
"The American Heart Association supports dietary patterns that include low-calorie beverages like water, diet soft drinks, and fat-free or low-fat milk as better choices than full calorie soft drinks," the group said in a Reuters report.
Soda offers no health benefit and should be treated like cake or ice cream. Nothing wrong with having it, but it can't be part of a daily diet without negative consequences.
Sholeh Patrick is a columnist for the Hagadone News Network. Send e-mail to sholehjo@hotmail.com.
