Consuming sugary drinks more than once a day leads to lower levels of good cholesterol and higher levels of triglycerides, two risk factors for cardiovascular disease.
Sugary drinks are bad for your health, it is well known. This causes weight gain and increases the risk of diabetes. Recently, it has also been proven that the consumption of sodas by a pregnant woman could be the cause of congenital heart defects in children. Today, a new study published on February 26 in the Journal of the American Heart Association shows that consuming sugary drinks more than once a day leads to lower levels of good cholesterol and higher levels of triglycerides (body fats that provide energy), two risk factors for cardiovascular illnesses.
In the United States, beverages are the main source of added sugars for the population. Additionally, 40-50% of American adults have dyslipidemia, an unhealthy imbalance in blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels known to increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. The researchers therefore started from the hypothesis that an overconsumption of sodas could lead to dyslipidemia, and at the same time, increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.
They then studied the medical data of 5,924 participants from cohorts followed for an average of 12.5 years, between 1991 and 2014, and classified these people according to their different types of consumption of sugary drinks. Among the latter: sodas, fruit flavored drinks, energy drinks or even pre-sweetened coffees and teas.
“Water remains the healthiest drink”
Result: those who consumed more than 340 grams per day had 53% more triglycerides and less good cholesterol. In contrast, low-calorie sugar-sweetened beverages did not appear to negatively affect the metabolism of those who drank them regularly.
“This research strengthens our understanding of the potential negative influence of sugary drinks on blood cholesterol, which increases the risk of heart disease. That’s another reason for all of us to cut back on sodas and other sugary drinks.says Eduardo Sanchez, chief medical officer for prevention and head of the American Heart Association’s Center for Health Measurement and Evaluation.
“Reducing or eliminating the consumption of sugary drinks may be a strategy that could help people maintain their triglyceride and cholesterol levels at healthier levels.said the study’s lead author, Nicola McKeown, a doctor of nutritional epidemiology at the Jean Mayer USDA Center for Aging Research at Tufts University in Boston. “And, while our study did not find negative blood lipid consequences of consuming low-calorie sugary drinks, consumption of these drinks may have health consequences for other risk factors. Water remains the healthiest drink”he continues.
Seven sugar cubes in a can of Coke
In conclusion, the American Heart Association recommends that people eliminate the consumption of sugary drinks to improve heart health and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.
In France, if we are still far from the United States in terms of consumption of sugary drinks, the latter has nevertheless increased significantly in recent years. According to INSEE, we would be like this “increased from 39 liters per person per year in 1990 to 58 liters in the 2000s”. To reverse the trend, the government introduced a new soda tax in July 2018. The latter applies to products according to its proportion of added sugar: it can increase to around twenty euros per hectolitre if the product contains more than 11 g of added sugar per 100 ml.
For example, remember that there is the equivalent of seven sugar cubes (35 g) in a 33 cl can of Coca-Cola and nine sugar cubes (45 g) in a 50 cl bottle of Nestea White peach.
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