SOFT DRINK AND DIET SODA

Soft drinks and diabetes

Several research studies have implicated soft drinks, either regular or diet, which contain certain chemicals and refined sugar, or its substitute aspartame to increased rates of obesity, type 2 diabetes and heart problems. The latest of such studies from the United States indicated that drinking more than one bottle of soft drink a day is associated with 50 per cent increase in metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome is a condition characterised by central obesity, hypertension and disturbed glucose and insulin metabolism. This syndrome increases the risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases CVD, says the study. The lead author of the study, Ramachandran Vasan, from Boston University School of Medicine says, “Soft drinks carry the same risk whether they are low-calorie or regular. Drinking a bottle of soft drinks per day will ultimately trigger diabetes.”

Diet Soda and Stroke

 Although replacing sugary drinks with diet soda seems like a smart solution for keeping weight down, a heart-healthy goal, it turns out that diet soda is likely a major bad guy when it comes to stroke.
People who drink a diet soda a day may up their stroke risk by 48 per cent. A Columbia University study presented at the American Stroke Association’s 2011 International Stroke Conference followed 2,500 people ages 40 and older and found that daily diet soda drinkers had 60 percent more strokes, heart attacks and coronary artery disease than those who did not drink diet soda. Researchers don’t know exactly how diet ups stroke risk – and are following up with further studies – but nutritionists are cautioning anyone concerned about stroke to cut out diet soda pop.