Drinking seven or more cans of diet pop per week could raise the risk of long-term heart issues, a study suggests.
Researchers in China spent four years evaluating 200,000 adults in the UK who had not previously been diagnosed with a heart condition and then followed up with them 10 years later.
They found that those who drank more than two liters, roughly seven cans, of artificially sweetened beverages like diet soda per week had a 20 percent higher risk of developing atrial fibrillation than those who didn’t drink them.
Atrial fibrillation, also known as afib, is an irregular heart rhythm – arrhythmia – that starts in the heart’s upper chambers. The condition, which has afflicted public figures like President Joe Biden, kills tens of thousands in the US and Britain every year.
People who drank at least one liter of artificially sweetened beverages a week had a 20 percent higher risk of atrial fibrillation
The findings come months after the World Health Organization deemed aspartame, the artificial sweetener in Diet Coke, a possible carcinogen, meaning it can cause cancer.
However, independent experts have raised concerns about the study’s caveats, stating that the data is only short-term and observational, meaning the cause for the increase in afib cases is unclear.
Dr Ningjian Wang, lead study author from Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine in Shanghai, China, said: ‘Our study’s findings cannot definitively conclude that one beverage poses more health risk than another due to the complexity of our diets and because some people may drink more than one type of beverage.’
‘However, based on these findings, we recommend that people reduce or even avoid artificially sweetened and sugar-sweetened beverages whenever possible.’
‘Do not take it for granted that drinking low-sugar and low-calorie artificially sweetened beverages is healthy, it may pose potential health risks.’
The research team evaluated 201,856 adults in the database UK Biobank between 2006 and 2010.
The patients ranged from 37 to 73 years old, and 45 percent were male.
The researchers followed participants for an average of 10 years and collected blood samples to measure their genetic risk for afib. The participants were also asked to answer one 24-hour questionnaire about their diet on five separate occasions between April 2009 and April 2012.
Those who drank more than two liters of artificially sweetened beverages a day, about seven cans, had a 20 percent higher risk of developing afib than those who didn’t drink these beverages.
Additionally, those who drank at least two liters of sugar-sweetened beverages were 10 percent more likely to be diagnosed with afib.
Meanwhile, those who consumed one liter or less of pure fruit juice had an eight percent lower risk of afib than those who did not drink these.
Additionally, those who drank at least two liters of sugar-sweetened beverages were 10 percent more likely to be diagnosed with afib
Meanwhile, those who consumed one liter or less of pure fruit juice had an eight percent lower risk of afib than those who did not drink these.
‘Participants who consumed more artificially sweetened beverages were more likely to be female, younger, have a higher body mass index and a higher prevalence of Type 2 diabetes,’ the team wrote.
‘Participants who consumed more sugar-sweetened beverages were more likely to be male, younger, have a higher body mass index, a higher prevalence of heart disease and lower socioeconomic status.’
The team also noted that those who drank sugar-sweetened beverages and pure fruit juice were more likely to have a higher total daily sugar intake than those who drank artificially sweetened beverages.
These novel findings on the relationships among atrial fibrillation risk and sugar- and artificially sweetened beverages and pure juice may prompt the development of new prevention strategies by considering decreasing sweetened drinks to help improve heart health,’ Dr Wang said.
‘Although the mechanisms linking sweetened beverages and atrial fibrillation risk are still unclear, there are several possible explanations, including insulin resistance and the body’s response to different sweeteners.’
Insulin resistance is when the body doesn’t respond to the hormone insulin, which causes high blood sugar. Over time, high blood sugar damages blood vessels, contributing to heart disease.
Additionally, though the research on artificial sweeteners is limited, sugar has long been linked to heart disease because it raises blood pressure and increases harmful inflammation throughout the body.
Though AFib on its own is not deadly, it can contribute to more serious heart issues like heart failure because the heart is pumping so hard that blood cannot pump fast enough to the rest of the body.
There are several major caveats to the study.
‘The limitations of this study include that the findings were observational and cannot prove causation between consumption of certain types of beverages and AFib risk,’ the researchers wrote.
‘In addition, the findings relied on participants to recall their own diets, so there may have been memory errors or bias. It is also unknown if the sugar- and artificially sweetened drinks contained caffeine.’
Independent experts have also raised concern about the findings, citing a need for more long-term data.
Gavin Partington, director general of the British Soft Drinks Association, said: ‘As the authors of this study themselves admit, this is observational research which, firstly, cannot prove cause, and which, secondly, involves data that could be subject to memory errors or bias from the participants.’
‘All soft drinks, whatever their ingredients, are safe to consume as part of a balanced diet, not least fruit juice, a 150ml portion of which counts as one of your 5 A Day.’
Victoria Taylor, senior dietitian at the British Heart Foundation, said: ‘As this type of study is observational it can only show us associations, not causation. We’d need more research and different types of studies to have a definitive answer.’
‘We already know that diets high in sugar are linked to high calorie diets which can cause weight gain and obesity. In turn, this increases the chances of developing type 2 diabetes and heart and circulatory diseases.’
Dr Duane Mellor, registered dietitian and senior lecturer at Aston University in the UK, said: ‘This study claimed to find that individuals who drank more than 2L per week had an increased risk of atrial fibrillation.’
‘However, the data this was based upon was only 5 separate single day food intake recalls which were taken over the first three years of the study, so this data had to be extrapolated to estimate weekly intake.’
‘Although there is an increased risk, there is limited explanation of how sweeteners might increase risk of atrial fibrillation, so there is a limited biological reason to explain how sweetened drinks could be linked to heart health.’
The study was published Tuesday in the journal Circulation: Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology.
