Sweetened drinks are linked to heart failure

by Stepy — November 14, 2015

Soda has been shown to increase weight gain, and the high fructose corn syrup and aspartame have both shown detrimental health effects. New research from Consumer Reports shows that soda is linked to cancer. More research has shown that it can also increase stroke risk, and cause diabetes.

According to new research from the Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden, sweetened drinks are linked to heart failure now as well.

The National, Heart, Lung and Blood Institute defines heart failure as when “heart can’t pump enough blood to meet the body’s needs.” Heart failure affects 23 million people worldwide, and the numbers continue to rise.

As written in the study abstract:

“A population-based cohort comprising 42 400 men, 45–79 years of age, was followed from 1998 through 2010. Sweetened beverage consumption was assessed by utilising a food frequency questionnaire. Incident events of HF were identified through linkage to the Swedish National Patient Register and the Cause of Death Register. Cox regression analyses were implemented to investigate the association between sweetened beverage consumption and HF. During a mean follow-up time of 11.7 years, a total of 4113 HF events were identified. We observed a positive association between sweetened beverage consumption and risk of HF after adjustment for other risk factors (p for trend <0.001). Men who consumed two or more servings of sweetened beverages per day had a statistically significant higher risk of developing HF (23%, 95% CI 1.12 to 1.35) compared to men who were non-consumers.”

To simplify, men in the study who consumed two or more servings of sweetened drinks per day had a significantly higher risk of heart failure.

“Our finding that sweetened beverage consumption is associated with higher risk of HF could have implications for HF prevention strategies,” the authors write. “Additional prospective studies investigating the link between sweetened beverage consumption and HF are therefore needed.”

The study showing that sweetened drinks are linked to heart failure was published in the journal Heart.

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REFERENCES:
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4. “What Is Heart Failure?” National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. National Institutes of Health, n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2015.
5. “The Relationship between Sweetened Beverage Consumption and Risk of Heart Failure in Men.” Heart. BMJ, n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2015.