Study: Drinking two or more diet sodas a day could increase the risk of heart attack and stroke

SALT LAKE CITY – A new study says you should be careful about the number of dietary drinks you drink, reports CNN.

The brief:

• Drinking at least two artificially sweetened drinks a day could lead to an increase in strokes and heart attacks from clotted origin, according to a new study by the American Heart Association and the American Stroke Association.
• According to the study, the risk is 16% higher among people who drank diet sodas than among those who did not have them.
• "This is another confirmatory study showing a relationship between artificially sweetened beverages and vascular risks, and although we can not demonstrate the cause, it is a yellow flag to pay attention to these results," said the president. from the American Academy of Neurology, Ralph Sacco, who is involved in the latest study, according to CNN.

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The study involved more than 80,000 postmenopausal American women participating in the Women's Health Initiative, an ongoing national study. Women were asked how many servings of 12 fluid ounces of dietary drinks. Then, their condition was followed for 11.9 years on average, reports CNN.

The study found that women who had two drinks or more had 31% chance of having a clot-related stroke, 29% more risk of heart disease and 16% moreover dying of any cause compared to women who had consumed less than one diet drink a week or not at all, according to a press release on the study.

Women with no history of illness or diabetes were at higher risk. African American women and obese women also had a higher risk, according to the study.

Lead author of the study, Yasmin Mossavar-Rahmani, associate professor of clinical epidemiology and population health at the Albert Einstein School of Medicine in Bronx, NY. , told CNN that this study takes a different turn from the previous ones.

• "Previous studies have focused on the global situation of cardiovascular disease," she said. "Our study focused on the most common type of stroke, ischemic stroke and its subtypes, one of them being the blockage of small vessels. The other interesting aspect of our study is that we have sought to determine who is the most vulnerable. "

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Dr. Rachel Johnson, professor of nutrition emeritus at the University of Vermont, told The New York Post that research on the effects of other low-calorie drinks was not sufficiently thorough.

• "Unfortunately, current research simply does not provide enough evidence to distinguish the effects of different low-calorie sweeteners on heart health and brain health," she said. "This study adds to the evidence that limiting the use of dietary drinks is the most prudent thing to do for your health."

According to the New York Post, the American Heart Association says that water remains the best choice for those who want a drink without calories.