As of: March 10, 2024, 5:01 p.m
By: Julia Hanigk
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Diet drinks seem to be a healthy alternative, but a new study raises concerns.
They could increase your risk of heart disease.
Shanghai – Products labeled “Light” or “Zero” are considered by many to be the healthier choice when choosing in the supermarket.
Whether it's snacks, dairy products or drinks, almost every product now has a diet version.
Instead of sugar, these products use sweeteners.
In the past, studies have raised concerns, such as that sweeteners could potentially be harmful to the intestines.
A recent study has now found a connection between light drinks and heart disease.
Study on the connection between the consumption of sweetened drinks and heart disease
The research, titled “Sweetened Beverages, Genetic Susceptibility, and Incident Atrial Fibrillation: A Prospective Cohort Study,” was commissioned by the American Heart Association
published
in the journal
Circulation: Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology .
The study examines the connection between atrial fibrillation and the consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks, artificially sweetened drinks and pure fruit juice.
Genetic susceptibility was also taken into account.
The study was led by Ningjian Wang, a researcher at Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital and Shanghai Jiao Tong University School.
Over 200,000 health data from subjects from the UK Biobank were analyzed.
The researchers had the participants fill out questionnaires about their diet.
They then formed two groups: one consumed more than two liters of artificially sweetened drinks per week, the other consumed less than one liter per week.
At the start of the study, none of the participants suffered from atrial fibrillation.
Two liters of light drinks per week led to a 20 percent increase in the risk of atrial fibrillation
The alarming results showed that consumers who drank two liters per week had a 20 percent higher risk of cardiac arrhythmias.
250 milliliter jars or 500 milliliter bottles are common sales sizes.
The
American Heart Association
also points out on its website that the sugary version is also not an alternative.
People who reported consuming similar amounts of sugar-sweetened beverages had a 10 percent increased risk of atrial fibrillation.
The subjects who drank one liter of pure juice per week during the study had an eight percent lower risk of developing atrial fibrillation.
During the almost ten-year follow-up period, there were 9,362 cases of atrial fibrillation among all participants - regardless of genetic predisposition.
What is atrial fibrillation and how do I recognize it?
The most common form of irregular heart rhythm in Germany is called atrial fibrillation.
According to the German Heart Foundation, the heart can then race with a pulse of up to 160 beats per minute.
However, the symptoms vary and it is estimated that only every second person notices them.
Symptoms include an irregular and accelerated pulse, shortness of breath, feeling of restlessness, reduced physical performance, dizziness, chest pain or even a short-term loss of consciousness.
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Sweeteners not confirmed as a cause
However, the study has a crucial limitation.
They couldn't confirm that the sweetened drinks also caused atrial fibrillation.
However, the link remained after a person's genetic susceptibility to the disease was taken into account.
Ningjian Wang said: "The results of our study cannot definitively conclude that one drink poses a greater health risk than another due to the complexity of our diet and the fact that some people drink more than one type of drink."
Nevertheless, he makes a clear recommendation based on his results: “Based on these findings, however, we recommend reducing or even avoiding artificially sweetened and sugar-sweetened drinks if possible.
Don't assume that drinking low-sugar, low-calorie, artificially sweetened beverages is healthy.
It can pose potential health risks.”
Light drinks are considered a healthier choice than sugar - but sweeteners also pose risks.
(Symbolic image) © Romanchini/Pond5 Images/IMAGO
Further research with light drinks and sweeteners is necessary
However, further research is needed because the mechanisms linking sweetened beverages to the risk of atrial fibrillation are still unclear.
Insulin resistance and the body's reaction to various sweeteners could also be possible explanations.
Another study recently suggested that the commonly used sweetener aspartame could potentially be carcinogenic.
The substance is currently being developed by WHO teams
and the International Agency for Research on Cancer
checked.
The results will be published on July 14, 2024.
However, the International Association of the Sweeteners Industry described the assessment as “scientifically not comprehensive”.
(jh)
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