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HowToPreventHeartDisease.com |
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Are Sugary Drinks Really So Bad For The Heart? People, especially youngsters, love sugary drinks. On any given day, half the Americans consume sugary drinks, 1 in 4 consume at least 200 calories from such drinks, and 5 percent drink at least 567 calories (equivalent to 4 cans of soda). Rising consumption of sugary drinks has, therefore, been accused by the health experts as a major contributor to the obesity epidemic. Sugary drinks could actually make people feel not as full as if they had eaten the same calories from solid food. Studies have shown that people drinking sugary drinks do not compensate for their high caloric content by eating less food. Any beverage with added sugar or other sweetener is classified as sugary drink. Soda, fruit punch, lemonade and other sweetened powdered drinks, sports and energy drinks are some good examples of sugary drink. In a recent study, which was published online June 29, 2015 in the American Heart Association (AHA)’s journal ‘Circulation’, researchers from Tufts University, Harvard School of Public Health, University of Washington and Imperial College London reported that sugary drinks are killing 184,000 adults around the world every year, and insisted that such drinks should be eliminated from people’s diets. 62 dietary surveys covering 611,971 people, conducted between 1980 and 2010 across 51 countries, were analyzed. With this information together with data on national availability of sugar in 187 countries and information on health harms of sugary drinks, the researchers were able to estimate the number of deaths attributed to such drinks.
Estimates made in 2010 indicated that every year, 133,000 people die from diabetes, 45,000 people from heart disease, and 6,450 from various kinds of cancer. Sugary drinks were defined in the study as any sugar-sweetened fizzy drinks, fruit drinks, sweetened iced teas, sports and energy drinks, or homemade sugary drinks. Pure fruit juice was excluded. About 3/4 of the deaths due to sugary drinks were in developing countries. Latin America, for instance, had the highest death rates, with Mexico ranked first in the list with 405 deaths per million adults or about 24,000 total deaths. The United States ranked fourth, with 125 deaths per million deaths, or 25,347 total deaths, which also make United States top in the list of total number of deaths. Most of the deaths centered among adults aged between 20 and 44 in low and meddle income countries. Researchers argued that because there are no health benefits from sugary drinks, it is necessary to cut consumption of sugary drinks throughout the world via effective health policies and targeted interventions directed at reducing obesity-related diseases, including cancer, diabetes, heart disease and stroke. Obviously, the findings would draw objections from the soft drink makers. They do not think that the study showed consuming sugary beverages causes chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease or cancer since the researchers did not provide any solid evidence to prove that sugary beverages are the cause of deaths. Figures from the beverage industry showed that soft drink manufacturers produce 10.4 billion gallons of sugary soda pop every year. That is sufficient to let every American has a 12-ounce can every day, 365 days a year. Meanwhile, a scientific statement from AHA stated that sugar-sweetened beverages are still the main source of added sugars in the American diet. That is why in 2015, the United States Guidelines Advisory Committee recommends that people should replace soft drinks and other sugar-sweetened beverages with milk and 100 percent fruit juice. There is no doubt that drinking water in place of sugary drinks is linked to lower long-term weight gain. In fact, drinks that have little or no sugar added to them such as plain water, sparking water, coffee or tea, are the best choice. People should avoid or drink infrequently or sparingly beverages having much more than 12 grams of sugar in a 12 ounce serving.
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