Can a Person Die From Drinking to Much Diet Coke
Ditch the Diet Coke! People who drink two glasses a day at 'higher risk of early death'
A study of over 450,000 people found regular consumers of fizzy drinks were up to 26 percent more likely to die over the next two decades
Image: Getty)
Guzzling two fizzy drinks a day - including low calorie options like Diet Coke - can raise the risk of a premature death by more than a quarter, according to new research.
A study of over 450,000 people found regular consumers were up to 26 percent more likely to die over the next two decades.
In particular, the beverages fuel fatal illnesses that affect the circulatory and digestive systems, warn scientists.
For instance, downing just one sugary drink daily increased the risk of dying from bowel, stomach or pancreatic tumours by 59 percent.
Two or more glasses of an artificially sweetened drink made heart attack or stroke triggering blood clots, and other deadly disorders of the arteries, 52 percent more common.
Corresponding author Dr Neil Murphy, a nutritional epidemiologist, said: "Results of this study appear to support ongoing public health measures to reduce the consumption of soft drinks."
Image:
Getty)They were based on men and women's intake of beverages sweetened artificially or with sugar and mortality rates across ten European countries, including the UK.
Dr Murphy said they fuel obesity related cardiovascular conditions, tumours and type 2 diabetes. In 2010 the drinks were estimated to be responsible for 184,000 deaths.
They have since been reformulated with low calorie sweeteners owing to public awareness and tax penalties. But the long term health effects are largely unknown.
Dr Murphy, of the International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, France, advised people to drink water instead.
He said: "Consumption of artificially sweetened soft drinks was positively associated with deaths from circulatory diseases, and sugar-sweetened soft drinks were associated with deaths from digestive diseases."
The study published in JAMA Internal Medicine found a link between the overall numbers of deaths and greater consumption of soft drinks, including both sugar and artificially sweetened products.
Drinking two or more glasses a day, compared with less than one a month, was associated with a higher risk of death from all causes.
Dr Murphy said: "Among the findings was a higher risk of death from circulatory diseases associated with consuming two or more glass per day of total and artificially sweetened soft drinks, and a higher risk of death from digestive diseases associated with drinking one or more glass per day of total and sugar-sweetened soft drinks."
The participants were recruited between 1992 and 20000 and followed for an average of 16 years, and some for more than 19 years. During the period 41,693 deaths occurred.
Explained Dr Murphy: "Excess calories contribute to greater weight gain and obesity. Although we found positive associations among lean participants which indicates that non-adiposity-related mechanisms may be important.
"Sugar-sweetened soft drinks have a high glycaemic index which elevates blood glucose levels which in turn can lead to insulin resistance and inflammation."
He said artificial sweeteners may induce high blood sugar and levels of insulin, the hormone that controls glucose.
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Dr Murphy said: "Additional studies are now needed to examine the long term health consequences of specific artificial sweeteners that are commonly used in soft drinks, such as aspartame and acesulfame potassium."
It is one of the first studies to investigate the relationship between soft drinks and mortality.
Two large studies in the US were published earlier this year, but this is the first large-scale European analysis of its kind.
Dr Murphy said: "Our analysis was the largest study to date and undertaken in more than 450,000 men and women from 10 European countries.
"We found higher soft drinks intake was associated with a greater risk of death from all-causes regardless of whether sugar-sweetened or artificially sweetened drinks were consumed.
"We are unable to elucidate cause-effect relationships from our study. Our results do, however, provide additional support for the possible adverse health effects of sugar-sweetened soft drinks and to replace them with other healthier beverages, preferably water.
"For artificially-sweetened soft drinks, we now need a better understanding of the mechanisms that may underlie this association and research such as ours will hopefully stimulate these efforts."
Can a Person Die From Drinking to Much Diet Coke
Source: https://www.mirror.co.uk/science/ditch-diet-coke-people-who-19338820