Carbonated Killers
Scientists have uncovered the link between soda and early deaths
Drinking excessively large amounts of soda and other sugary drinks significantly increases the chances of dying at an early age from heart and vascular diseases, as well as cancer. This conclusion was reached by Harvard doctors who published an article in the journal Circulation (Malik et al., Long-Term Consumption of Sugar-Sweetened and Artificially Sweetened Beverages and Risk of Mortality in US Adults).
"Our observations once again show that all the inhabitants of the planet should limit the consumption of all sugary drinks and replace them with other types of drinking, preferably with ordinary water in order to maximize their life and improve their health," said Vasanti Malik from Harvard University (in a press release Sugary drinks may be associated with an increased risk of death from cardiovascular diseases –VM).
According to current WHO data, a global epidemic of obesity has been observed in the world since the 80s of the last century. Every third inhabitant of the globe suffers from extra pounds, and about 15% more from severe forms of obesity. About 47% of diseases, such as atherosclerosis, strokes, heart attacks, diabetes and cancer, are associated with such metabolic disorders. Sugar and sugary drinks, which have become widely popular around the world in the last two decades, are now claimed to be the main "distributor" of this epidemic, as many doctors and scientists believe today.
The consequences of their spread are already visible today. Two years ago, researchers from the United States found out that excessive consumption of sugary carbonated drinks leads to the death of approximately 184 thousand people every year. Most of these deaths occur in Latin American countries and the United States itself.
Malik and her colleagues confirmed that the abuse of sugary drinks can indeed be recognized as one of the main causes of early development of heart and vascular diseases and related deaths, analyzing data collected within the framework of HPFS and NHANES projects between 1980 and 2014.
They were attended by over one hundred thousand professional medical workers who agreed to long-term monitoring of their health, diet and other aspects of their lives. Every two years, they told social services employees about how their harmful and healthy habits changed and were examined.
Using these data sets, Malik and her colleagues tested how strongly the use of soda and other sugar-containing beverages affected the likelihood of premature death of these medical staff.
As it turned out, such a connection not only existed, but was quite obvious. For example, people who drank only three or four glasses of soda a week died 6% more often than health workers who did not try these drinks. Their daily use increased the risk of premature death by 14% for one serving of soda per day, and by 21% for two or more.
The increased risk of premature death, according to Harvard doctors, was primarily associated with heart and vascular diseases, as well as cancer. In particular, people who consumed two to six glasses of sweetened water a day were 30% more likely to die from heart attacks, coronary heart disease and strokes than the rest of the HPFS and NHANES participants. Similarly, they were 16% more likely to develop cancer.
All this, according to Malik and her colleagues, suggests that the advertising and turnover of soda, especially among children and young people, should be severely restricted or banned, as well as introduce high taxes on the production of these drinks, "taking into account the costs of combating the consequences of their use."
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