Study Links Diet Soft Drinks With Cardiac Risk July 23, 2007 08:40:40 PM PST By Ed Edelson HealthDay Reporter
Yahoo! Health: Diabetes News
MONDAY, July 23 (HealthDay News) -- Drinking more than one soda a day -- even if it's the sugar-free diet kind -- is associated with an increased incidence of metabolic syndrome, a cluster of risk factors linked to the development of diabetes and cardiovascular disease, a study finds.
The link to diet soda found in the study was "striking" but not entirely a surprise, said Dr. Ramachandran Vasan, study senior author and professor of medicine at Boston University School of Medicine. There had been some hints of it in earlier studies, he said.
"But this is the first study to show the association in a prospective fashion and in a large population," Vasan said.
That population consisted of more than 6,000 participants in the Framingham Heart Study, which has been following residents of a Massachusetts town since 1948. When the soda portion of the study began, all participants were free of metabolic syndrome, a collection of risk factors including high blood pressure, elevated levels of the blood fats called triglycerides, low levels of the artery-protecting HDL cholesterol, high fasting blood sugar levels and excessive waist circumference. Metabolic syndrome is the presence of three or more of these risk factors.
Over the four years of the study, people who consumed more than one soft drink of any kind a day were 44 percent more likely to develop metabolic syndrome than those who didn't drink a soda a day.
The findings are published in the July 24 issue of the journal Circulation.
A variety of explanations, none proven, have been proposed for the link between diet soft drink consumption and metabolic syndrome, Vasan said. That association was evident even when the researchers accounted for other factors, such as levels of saturated fat and fiber in the diet, total calorie intake, smoking and physical activity.
One theory is that the high sweetness of all soft drinks makes a person more prone to eat sugary, fattening foods. Another is that the caramel content of soft drinks promotes metabolic changes that lead to insulin resistance. "These are hotly debated by nutritional experts," Vasan said.
Vasan, who noted that he is not a nutritional expert, said he leans toward the theory that "this is a marker of dietary behavior" -- that people who like to drink sweet soda also like to eat the kind of foods that cardiac nutritionists warn against.
"But we cannot infer causality," Vasan said, meaning there is no proof that soda itself is the villain. "We have an association. Maybe it is a causal one or maybe it is a marker of something else."
Carefully controlled animal studies might resolve the cause-and-effect issue, he said.
Dr. Elizabeth G. Nabel, director of the U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, which funds the Framingham Heart Study, said in a prepared statement: "Other studies have shown that the extra calories and sugar in soft drinks contribute to weight gain, and therefore heart disease risk. This study echoes those findings by extending the link to all soft drinks and the metabolic syndrome."
Dr. Suzanne R. Steinbaum, director of Women and Heart Disease at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, said, "There is no safe way of eating junk food, just as we learned the lesson from trans fats and partially hydrogenated oils often found in fat-free or low-fat cookies. Diet soda does not protect us from the development of what we are trying to avoid by consuming it."
More information
Learn more about metabolic syndrome at the American Heart Association.
Last edited by Narrock on Tue Jul 24, 2007 10:10 am, edited 1 time in total.
“The more I study science the more I believe in God.” -- Albert Einstein
Only my opinion but I think HFCS is a big reason why we Americans are big and fat. If you eat anything sweet, odds are you're consuming HFCS and IMHO that shit is a bane of human existance (not the only bane mind you ).
That said, I don't know that diet soda has much HFCS but I just wanted to communicate how bad that stuff is.
I think it had been posted before, but 1 can of coke or pepsi has almost 1 cup worth of sugar.
When my kids ask me for "pop" I grab my sugar jar, spoon out 12 heaping teaspoons of sugar into a cup and say, if you can drink this cup of sugar, I'll get you a pop, so far this has resulted in them requesting milk after I hand them the cup of sugar
ClakarEQ wrote:That said, I don't know that diet soda has much HFCS but I just wanted to communicate how bad that stuff is.
Diet soda contains 0 HFCS.
It's made with aspartame or sucralose - neither of which are any good for you either.
Actually, my #1 problem with any soda, diet or not, is the ridiculously high acidity level that comes with being carbonated that a) wreaks havoc on your teeth, and b) your digestive system, your kidneys especially.
ClakarEQ wrote:Only my opinion but I think HFCS is a big reason why we Americans are big and fat. If you eat anything sweet, odds are you're consuming HFCS and IMHO that shit is a bane of human existance (not the only bane mind you ).
That said, I don't know that diet soda has much HFCS but I just wanted to communicate how bad that stuff is.
this will continue as long as the government continues to meddle
Sorry...I just don't see where this really needs a SHIT. for a title. Of course, it's bad for you, you're drinking a bunch of chemicals that's pretending to be sugar....how can that be good?
Inside each person lives two wolves. One is loyal, kind, respectful, humble and open to the mystery of life. The other is greedy, jealous, hateful, afraid and blind to the wonders of life. They are in battle for your spirit. The one who wins is the one you feed.
Martrae wrote:Sorry...I just don't see where this really needs a SHIT. for a title. Of course, it's bad for you, you're drinking a bunch of chemicals that's pretending to be sugar....how can that be good?
Mar. use your admin powers and change the titel to "Do you drink diet soda?"
Martrae wrote:Sorry...I just don't see where this really needs a SHIT. for a title. Of course, it's bad for you, you're drinking a bunch of chemicals that's pretending to be sugar....how can that be good?
I think it's more to the point of it being better than drinking an assload of sugar that will wreack havoc on your pancreas. Instead of bombing that, you are just lightly tapping your kidney and liver.
We'd all be better if we ate just simple fruits and vegetables, and drank water, but somehow I doubt people are keen for that.
/shrug we rarely buy pop for those very reasons. Water and milk are the staples around here. So neener neener. :P
Inside each person lives two wolves. One is loyal, kind, respectful, humble and open to the mystery of life. The other is greedy, jealous, hateful, afraid and blind to the wonders of life. They are in battle for your spirit. The one who wins is the one you feed.
I drink about 2-3 Monster engergy drinks a day. The lo-carb ones. It's the only energy drink that I like the flavor of. There's 6 grams of carbs and 20 calories per can. They use a sweetener called "Sucralose."
“The more I study science the more I believe in God.” -- Albert Einstein
lyion wrote:Milk for adults is probably worse for you than diet soda.
Really? I mean I hate milk and never drink it to be honest - but I thought that it was bad that I don't drink milk, I wasn't aware it was bad for adults - what does it do to you?
Mindia - look for 180 blue with acai, that one is so good. Not that it's good for you, but man, that's the best energy drink I've ever tasted.
Sucralose is what splenda is.
"I think you may be confusing government running amok with government doing stuff you don't like. See, you're in the minority now. It's supposed to taste like a shit taco." - Jon Stewart
that's a totally shitty study btw. it doesn't prove anything about diet soda other than people who drink it tend to eat shittily, which affects their health. big surprise.
Chances are very good that you've never touched Linux a day in your pathetic life.
Well, I've been drinking these lo-carb Monster energy drinks for almost a year now. I think it's time to cycle off of them and go back to coffee for a while.
“The more I study science the more I believe in God.” -- Albert Einstein
lyion wrote:Milk for adults is probably worse for you than diet soda.
Really? I mean I hate milk and never drink it to be honest - but I thought that it was bad that I don't drink milk, I wasn't aware it was bad for adults - what does it do to you?
Mindia - look for 180 blue with acai, that one is so good. Not that it's good for you, but man, that's the best energy drink I've ever tasted.
Sucralose is what splenda is.
I remember you talking about it a couple months ago, but I forgot to look for it. Anyway, I buy the monster drinks by the case at Sam's Club, and I have a full case left... I need to burn through those before I buy the 180 Blue.
“The more I study science the more I believe in God.” -- Albert Einstein
Milk is bad for adults because after the age of around 18 your body begins to lose the ability to break it down properly, not so much lactose intolerante per-say but something like it.
Don't recall where I saw this but one thing that is very strange about us humans, we are the only being that drinks another's milk. If you look at nature, most animals don't drink milk after 6 months to a year let alone drinking another animals milk.
I suppose a 1/2 gallon jug of breast milk at kroger would seem a bit, err strange :P
I fucking love milk, I will drink it until it kills me.
Energy drinks are nasty, I havent tasted one yet that I liked, and ive tried about all of them. I just drink water, makes me feel better and more energized than anything~ That and OJ...good OJ is my weakness
Zanchief wrote:Mindia, how do you feel about monster drinks?
I like them as an alternative to coffee, because coffee tends to tear my stomach up, especially first thing in the morning. But I realize now that I may be overdoing it with the energy drinks.
“The more I study science the more I believe in God.” -- Albert Einstein
lyion wrote:Milk for adults is probably worse for you than diet soda.
I was talking mostly for the kids. I don't like milk so I don't drink it. I almost always drink water.
Inside each person lives two wolves. One is loyal, kind, respectful, humble and open to the mystery of life. The other is greedy, jealous, hateful, afraid and blind to the wonders of life. They are in battle for your spirit. The one who wins is the one you feed.
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