Daily consumption of sweetened drinks increases the risk of heart disease by 20%
Last reviewed: 20.11.2021
All iLive content is medically reviewed or fact checked to ensure as much factual accuracy as possible.
We have strict sourcing guidelines and only link to reputable media sites, academic research institutions and, whenever possible, medically peer reviewed studies. Note that the numbers in parentheses ([1], [2], etc.) are clickable links to these studies.
If you feel that any of our content is inaccurate, out-of-date, or otherwise questionable, please select it and press Ctrl + Enter.
Soft drinks with the addition of sugar can be dangerous to health, the world scientists from the Harvard School of Public Health (USA) notify the world.
For twenty-two years, they closely followed 42,883 men between the ages of 40 and 75 (all subjects worked in health-related organizations). Since January 1986, every two years until September 2008, participants filled out questionnaires with questions about nutrition and other aspects of lifestyle. In the middle of the study, they all donated blood for analysis.
As a result, it was found that drinking a day for 340 grams of sugar-sweetened drinks risked becoming a victim of heart disease by 20% more than those who could not tolerate anything in the spirit. It is curious that the indicator did not change even when other risk factors were taken under control, such as smoking, physical inertia, alcohol consumption and the presence of heart diseases in a family history. Not so frequent presence of sweet drinks in a ration - twice a week and twice a month - does not increase probability of development of illness.
Researchers also measured the concentration of lipids and proteins in the blood of the test subjects, which are biomarkers of heart disease. Among them - an inflammatory marker C-reactive protein, triglycerides and useful lipids, known as high-density lipoproteins.
In comparison with those who did not drink sugary drinks, fans of soda and other similar swill had an elevated level of triglycerides and C-reactive protein, but a low content of high-density lipoproteins. At the same beverages with sugar substitutes had no effect on the risk or concentration of biomarkers of heart diseases.