From The Daily Mail:
For those keen to look after their health, sugar-free fizzy drinks may seem a wise choice. But they could actually increase the risk of having a heart attack or stroke, research shows.
A study of more than 2,500 people found those who had diet drinks every day were 61 per cent more likely to get vascular problems than those who did not have any carbonated drinks.
Researcher Hannah Gardener said: "If our results are confirmed with future studies, then it would suggest that diet soda may not be the optimal substitute for sugar-sweetened beverages for protection against vascular outcomes."
Dismayed
40 minutes ago
7 comments:
The answer to what we eat and drink does not need any costly research when we all know the answer already. That is most things eaten or drunk in moderation do us no harm. We already know not to eat toadstools and the like even in moderation so they can bugger off.
"All medical research is rubbish" is a better approximation to the truth than almost all medical research.
From the article
"Researchers said the survey did not include data on the types of diet and regular drinks consumed..."
&
"Dr Gardener, an epidemiologist at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, said further studies would have to be carried out..."
Or, to paraphrase:
This so-called study was crap. Give us more money for another one.
Who would suspect that diet products would be used by persons who are over-weight and therefore at higher cardiovascular risk...
AC1
Dr. Patrick Lyden, chief of neurology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, reviewed the findings but was not involved in the research. "My first thought was, 'The correlation has to be accidental,'" he said. But he said the science in the study looks sound. "There still could be some sort of accidental correlation," he said. What to do? "Wait for repeated studies to show a risk and in the meantime, all things in moderation. An occasional soda never hurt anybody," he said. "Once or twice a week to me seems to be rational."
Gardener and her colleagues evaluated the soda habits of 2,564 people enrolled in the large Northern Manhattan Study (NOMAS) to see if there was an association, if any, with stroke. The participants were 69 years of age, on average, and completed food questionnaires about the type of soda they drank and how often.
During the average nine-year follow-up, 559 vascular events occurred, including strokes caused by hemorrhage and those caused by clots, known as ischemic strokes.
The researchers controlled for such factors as age, gender, ethnicity, physical activity, calorie intake, smoking and alcohol drinking habits and still found that those who drank diet soda daily -- compared to those who drank no soda -- were 61% more likely to have a vascular event.
The researchers then controlled for the presence of metabolic syndrome, vascular disease in the limbs and heart disease history; the link still held, albeit at 48%.
While the study found a possible association between diet soda and stroke risk, it did not demonstrate a cause and effect. "If our study is replicated," Gardener said, "it would suggest diet soda is not optimal."
I wouldn't touch the stuff. It may not have sugar in it, but it does have vile sweetners in it and God know what the long term effect of those are. At least we know what sugar does to you.
Aspartame - the goddess of heart attacks.
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