Artificially sweetened drinks, a new study has found, can be as bad for your heart as a sugar-filled type.
“Our study suggests that artificially sweetened beverages may not be a healthy alternative to sugary drinks, and these data provide additional arguments to support the current debate about taxes, labeling and regulation of sugary drinks and artificially sweetened beverages,” said lead author Alloy Chazellase. Said. Doctoral student And a member of the Nutritional Epidemiology Research Team at Sorbonne Paris Nord University, in a statement.
“We already know that sugar-sweetened drinks are bad news when it comes to cardiovascular and other health outcomes,” said cardiologist Dr. Andrew Freeman, co-chair of the American College of Cardiology Nutrition and Lifestyle Work Group. Learning.
“A lot of people said, ‘Well, maybe baking soda and artificially sweetened drinks are better than sugar-sweetened drinks.’ But there has been recent evidence over the last few years that suggests there are potentially harmful circumstances, if you drink artificially sweetened foods, especially in women, ”Freeman said.
Daniel Smotkin, a spokesman for the American Beverage Association, told CNN by email that “low- and no-calorie sweeteners are considered safe by regulators around the world and there is a significant body of research, including a World Health Organization. Sugar is a useful tool to help reduce consumption and manage weight.
“We have supported the WHO’s call for people to reduce sugar in their diets and we are doing our part by creating innovative drinks with low sugar or zero sugar, clear calorie labeling, responsive marketing methods and smaller package sizes,” Smotkin said.
Organization, not reason
Volunteers were divided into three groups: nonnews, fewer customers, and more customers of food or sugary drinks. Sugar drinks include soft drinks, fruit drinks and syrups that contain at least 5% sugar as well as 100% fruit juice. Diet drinks contain only non-nutritive sweeteners such as aspartame or sucralose and natural sweeteners such as stevia.
Between 2011 and 2019, sugary and dietary habits were treated separately, compared to any of the first cases of “stroke, transient ischemic attack, myocardial infarction, acute coronary syndrome and angioplasty”.
The authors said they eliminated early cases of heart disease during the first three years, adjusted for a “series of compounds” that could squeeze data, and found a small but statistically significant result.
High consumers are 20% more likely to develop cardiovascular disease at any given time than people who do not drink artificially sweetened drinks. While the results were similar for more consumers of sugary drinks than for newcomers, the researchers found.
However, the authors said, this study may only show a correlation between the two, not a direct cause.
“In order to establish a functional link, other large-scale potential groups and mechanistic investigations need to be replicated,” the authors said.
The Calorie Control Council, an international organization representing the low- and low-calorie food and beverage industry, said in a statement:
“Epidemiological studies, built on large sample sizes, are also subject to potential difficulties, including reverse functioning. [subjects choose low and no calorie sweeteners (LNCS) as a tool to manage their weight after becoming overweight/obese] And the rest confused [inability to control for factors that influence health outcomes], As the researchers noted. “
The growing body of research
Not doing a more specific study in place is a big limitation, the researchers said, as it is impossible to determine if there is an association due to a specific synthetic sweetener, a type of drink or other hidden health issue.
“We know that people who consume dietary sodas are already overweight or obese, so you have to wonder if other conspirators and lifestyles may already exist.”
“We also know that you know that when you eat something sweet your body stimulates the release of insulin and a lot of things that can also lead to weight gain.”
However, this is not the first time diet drinks have been linked to heart issues.
The risk was highest for obese or African American women with no history of heart disease or diabetes, the study found.
“What’s that about these diet drinks?” Asked Yasmin Mosawar-Rahmani, an associate professor of clinical epidemiology and population health at Albert Einstein College Ledge Medicine in the Bronx, New York, who was the lead author for the 2019 study.
Until those answers are found, Freeman tells his patients to choose their drinks wisely.
“I tell them that the perfect drink for human consumption is water, probably always,” Freeman said. “And maybe with a very close second to unwanted tea and unwanted coffee.
“And the rest probably shouldn’t be taken regularly – if not all.”
What to do if you are addicted
Don’t go to cold turkey. The hard love approach is difficult and can set you up for failure, so CNN contributor Lisa Dreyer suggests weaning more slowly.
Drink water, even if it is carbonated. Experts say that water is the perfect hydration for the human body. If it’s not your favorite drink, try adding a little spoonful.
“Try pouring the fruit into the water – you can buy a wheat for water, fill it with water, then add orange, lemon, strawberry, watermelon or whatever fruit pieces you like so that the water blends with the fruit flavor and sweetens your taste. Will give. Palate, “he said.
If you think you are also addicted to soda fizzy crackle and popcorn, give it in carbonated water, i.e.
Dryer added, “Rotating with Celtzer / sparkling water can help you cut.” “If you crave carbonation you can eventually replace soft drinks with Celtzer or sparkling water.”
In short try a sugar challenge. According to Dr. Sharon Horash Bergquist, an assistant professor of medicine at Emery University School of Medicine in Atlanta, our taste buds rotate every two weeks, so we can learn to crave less sweet things in the short term.
She suggests trying a two-week sugar challenge. Once you have passed that intense sugar craving, then your taste buds will adjust to find “natural foods with sugar more satisfying”.
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