Sugar Sweetened Deverages and Heart Disease

Byron's Comments:

Sugar sweetened beverages are one factor that can cause heart disease all by itself.

Study Title:

Sweetened beverage consumption and risk of coronary heart disease in women.

Study Abstract:

Background: Previous studies have linked full-calorie sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) with greater weight gain and an increased risk of type 2 diabetes.

Objective: We prospectively examined the association between consumption of SSBs and the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) in women.

Design: Women (n = 88,520) from the Nurses’ Health Study aged 34–59 y, without previously diagnosed coronary heart disease (CHD), stroke, or diabetes in 1980, were followed from 1980 to 2004. Consumption of SSBs was derived from 7 repeated food-frequency questionnaires administered between 1980 and 2002. Relative risks (RRs) for CHD were calculated by using Cox proportional hazards models and adjusted for known cardiovascular disease risk factors.

Results: During 24 y of follow-up, we ascertained 3105 incident cases of CHD (nonfatal myocardial infarction and fatal CHD). After standard and dietary risk factors were adjusted for, the RRs (and 95% CIs) of CHD according to categories of cumulative average of SSB consumption (<1/mo, 1–4/mo, 2–6/wk, 1/d, and 2 servings/d) were 1.0, 0.96 (0.87, 1.06), 1.04 (0.95, 1.14), 1.23 (1.06, 1.43), and 1.35 (1.07, 1.69) (P for trend < 0.001). Additional adjustment for body mass index, energy intake, and incident diabetes attenuated the associations, but they remained significant. Artificially sweetened beverages were not associated with CHD.

Conclusion: Regular consumption of SSBs is associated with a higher risk of CHD in women, even after other unhealthful lifestyle or dietary factors are accounted for.

Study Information:

Teresa T Fung, Vasanti Malik, Kathryn M Rexrode, JoAnn E Manson, Walter C Willett and Frank B Hu. Sweetened beverage consumption and risk of coronary heart disease in women. Am J Clin Nutr. 2009 April 89: 1037-1042, 2009.
Simmons College, Boston, MA (TTF); the Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA.