BOSTON – Drinking as little as one can of soda per day – either regular or diet – is associated with a 48 percent increased risk of “metabolic syndrome,” a key predecessor of heart disease and diabetes, according to new results released Monday.
Researchers previously had known that drinking regular sodas contributed to the risk of metabolic syndrome, but this is the first finding implicating diet sodas, according to results published online in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.
Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of symptoms that includes excessive abdominal fat, high blood-glucose levels, high blood pressure, high blood triglycerides and low levels of high-density lipoprotein, the “good” cholesterol.
People with three or more of these symptoms have double the normal risk of heart disease and diabetes.
The researchers were uncertain why diet soda had such a large effect.
Dr. Ramachandran Vasan of Boston University School of Medicine, the lead author of the study, said it is unlikely that an ingredient in soda causes the effect. More likely is that consuming sweet sodas changes dietary patterns or that soda is simply a marker for the poor eating habits of the participants.
Researchers studied more than 2,400 middle-aged, white residents of Framingham, Mass. At the beginning of the study, those who had consumed more than one soda per day – either regular or diet – had a 48 percent higher risk of having metabolic syndrome.
The team then focused on the more than 1,600 people who did not have metabolic syndrome at the start of the study and followed them for at least four years. Those who drank at least one soda per day had a 44 percent higher risk of developing metabolic syndrome during the four years of the study.
Those who drank at least one soda per day also had:
* A 31 percent greater risk of becoming obese;
* A 30 percent higher risk of having a larger waistline;
* A 25 percent higher risk of developing high blood triglycerides or high blood sugar;
* A 32 percent greater risk of having low levels of good cholesterol.
The percentages were the same whether a subject drank regular or diet soda.
Soda makers, however, rejected the study outright.
Susan Neely, president and chief executive of the American Beverage Association, said that “the assertions defy the existing body of scientific evidence, as well as common sense … It is scientifically implausible to suggest that diet soft drinks – a beverage that is 99 percent water – cause weight gain or elevated blood pressure.”
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