Having 1 Sugary Drink a Day May Raise Heart Risk

Study: Men who drank 1 sugar-sweetened beverage daily had 20% higher risk of heart disease than non-drinkers. by: Kathleen Doheny for WebMD Medical News
On March 12, 2012, a new study suggests just 1 sugar-sweetened drink a day may be enough to raise a man's risk for heart disease. Men who drank only 1 sugary drink a day had 20% higher risk of heart disease than did non-drinkers, per researcher Frank Hu, MD, PhD, professor of nutrition & epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health. "This study provides strong evidence that higher consumption of sugary beverages is an important risk factor for heart disease", he says. "Even moderate consumption, only 1 soda per day, is associated with a 20% risk." Hu's team followed almost 43,000 men in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study. Previously, they conducted a similar study with women. In that study, they also found a link between sugar-sweetened drinks & heart disease. "In this one we tried to replicate the results in men", he tells WebMD. The results are very consistent, he says. "That is really enhancing the validity of the findings." The Sugar Association took exception with the findings, stressing that sugar is not the main culprit, but lifestyle. So did the American Beverage Association.
Study Details: Hu & his team asked the men, aged 40-75, to report their beverage-drinking habits. From January 1986 to December 2008, the men reported on their diet & other health habits every 2 years. They provided a blood sample halfway through the study. As the researchers followed the men they looked to see who had heart disease, which was defined as a heart attack. During that time, there were 3,683 heart attacks. Next, the researchers divided the men into 4 groups, depending on their sugar-sweetened drink habits. These drinks included sodas, carbonated non-colas, fruit punches, lemonade, & other non-carbonated fruit drinks, but did not include 100% fruit juices. These groups were: No sugar-sweetened drinks Twice a month 1-3 times a week 4 times a week to 9 per day
Those in the last group were 20% more likely to have a heart attack than the non-drinkers, Hu found. This was true even after accounting for other factors, such as age, smoking, exercise, alcohol drinks, diet, weight, & family history of heart disease. They looked at blood samples. Men who drank sugar-sweetened drinks daily had higher indicators for heart disease than the non-drinkers. Those who had a daily sugar-sweetened drink had higher levels of blood fats, called triglycerides, which is a risk factor for heart disease. Another risk factor, they had lower levels of HDL, the good cholesterol.
What can explain the link? "There are at least 3 things going on,"Hu says. "One is increased body weight, an immediate effect of drinking sugar-sweetened beverages. The second thing is blood lipids. It increases triglycerides & decreases HDL." The drinks, also, increase inflammatory indicators liked with heart disease, he says, such as C-reactive protein.
Perspectives: Robert Lustig, MD, professor of clinical pediatrics at the University of California San Francisco, who has researched childhood & adult obesity, reviewed the findings. In his own research, he says, he has found a link between sugar-sweetened drinks & high blood pressure, another risk factor for heart disease. Christina M. Shay, PhD, assistant professor at the University of Oklahoma, Lawton, found in her own research a link between sugar-sweetened drinks & heart disease in women.
The Industry Weigh-in: Charles Baker, PhD, chief science officer at the Sugar Association, takes issue with the findings. Singling out sugar is not the answer to fighting obesity & heart disease, he says. Instead, people should reduce calories & exercise more, he says. The American Beverage Association says other factors, such as stress, could have played a role.
Diet Advice: Those who love such drinks don't have to give them up entirely, Hu says. "One or 2 a week, I don't think that's going to be a major problem," he says. "We should treat soda as some kind of treat, not a regular event," he tells WebMD.
*The American Heart Association recommends drinking no more than 450 calories of sugary drinks a week. That's fewer than 3 12-oz. sugared drinks. On any day, about half the people in the U.S. drinks a sugary drink, the CDC reports. One in 20 drinks more than 4 12-oz. sugared beverages per day, it finds.
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