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It turns out that drinking several times a day diet drinks may not be a very good idea for postmenopausal women. A new study has shown that it is badociated with an increased risk of having a stroke caused by an obstructed artery.
The study was published in Stroke, a journal of the American Heart Association.
The study is one of the first to examine the badociation between the consumption of artificially sweetened beverages and the risk of certain types of stroke in a large and diverse group of postmenopausal women.
Compared to women who consumed dietary drinks less than once a week or not at all, women who ate at least two soft drinks a day were:
23% more likely to have a stroke;
31% more likely to have a stroke (ischemic);
29% more likely to develop heart disease (fatal or nonfatal heart attack); and
16% more likely to die of any cause.
In addition, the researchers found that the risks were higher for some women. A high intake of dietary drinks, defined as two or more times a day, has more than doubled the risk of stroke by:
– Women without previous heart disease or diabetes, who were 2.44 times more likely to experience a type of stroke caused by blockage of one of the very small arteries of the brain;
– Obese women without previous heart disease or diabetes, who were 2.03 times more likely to have a clot-induced stroke; and
– African-American women with no previous heart disease or diabetes, who were 3.93 times more likely to have a stroke caused by a clot.
Speaking of the study, the main author of the study, Yasmin Mossavar-Rahmani, said: "Many well-intentioned people, especially overweight or obese people, drink sweetened beverages low calorie to reduce their caloric intake. Our research and other observational studies have shown that artificially sweetened beverages may not be innocuous and that high consumption is badociated with a higher risk of stroke and heart disease . "
Researchers badyzed data on 81,714 postmenopausal women (aged 50 to 79 at baseline) who participated in the Women's Health Initiative that tracked health outcomes on average 11.9 years later their registration between 1993 and 1998.
In their triennial badessment, women reported how many times in the last three months they had consumed dietary drinks such as low calorie soft drinks, colas, sodas and artificially sweetened fruit drinks. The collected data did not include information on the specific artificial sweetener contained in the beverages.
The results were obtained after adjusting for various risk factors for stroke, such as age, high blood pressure, and smoking. These findings in postmenopausal women may not be generalizable to younger men or women. The study is also limited by the fact that only women report having taken dietary drinks.
"We do not know exactly what types of artificially sweetened beverages they consume, so we do not know what artificial sweeteners can be harmful and which ones can be harmless," said Mossavar-Rahmani.
"Unfortunately, current research simply does not provide enough evidence to distinguish the effects of different low-calorie sweeteners on heart and brain health. This study adds to the evidence that limiting your consumption of dietary drinks is the most prudent thing to do for your health, "said Rachel K. Johnson, Ph.D., RD, professor of nutrition emeritus at the University of Ottawa. University of Vermont and chair of the American Heart Association's Scientific Advisory Board, low calorie sweetened beverages and cardiometabolic health.
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First published: February 16, 2019 17:31 IST
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