When compared with participants who drank less than one glass of either sugar or artificially sweetened soft drinks per month, those consuming two or more glasses a day had a higher risk of all-cause mortality. Participants were given questionnaires at the start of the process to gain knowledge of their general lifestyles, and asked to include how many fizzy drinks, fruit squash or energy drinks they consumed, fruit juice was not included. With factors such as body mass index, diet, exercise, smoking and education taken into consideration the increased risk to early death was found to be 17% higher for those drinking two glasses a day compared to those drinking less than one a month.
Looking into the causes of deaths the team found that those frequently consuming artificially sweetened drinks were at an increased risk of death from #circulatory diseases while those consuming sugar-sweetened drinks had a higher risk associated to death from #digestive diseases. Both types of drinks were linked to an increased risk of death from #Parkinson’s disease. Whether or not artificially sweetened drinks in themselves do harm or those who drink them are more likely to have unhealthy behaviours is unclear, but previous papers on the dangers of #aspartame, linked below, adds weight to the argument of the danger they pose to our health. Whilst this was an observational study, relying on participants to self-record, it does reinforce health campaigns encouraging us to look for the healthier option when reaching for a drink, with the easiest and cheapest being water.
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https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/article-abstract/2749350
