- Researchers are reporting that consuming more than two liters per week of sweetened beverages carries an increased risk of irregular heart rhythm, or atrial fibrillation.
- Drinks with artificial sweeteners also carried a higher risk than those with natural sugars.
- Consuming one liter or less of pure, unsweetened juice per week was associated with a lower risk.
- Doctors recommend limiting consumption of sweetened drinks and switching to healthier alternatives such as water.
A new analysis might give you pause before reaching for that sweetened beverage – especially if it’s artificially sweetened.
Researchers looked at data from the U.K. Biobank, finding that frequent consumption of sweetened drinks – whether they’re naturally sweet, such as juice — or artificially sweetened, like a diet soda – carries a heightened risk of irregular heart rhythm, also known as atrial fibrillation.
Their findings were published today in Circulation: Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology, a journal of the American Heart Association.
Ningjian Wang, the lead study author and a researcher at the Shanghai Ninth People’s Hospital and Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine in China, told Medical News Today that artificially sweetened drinks carry a higher risk.
“Our study shows the consumption of more than two liters (about 67 ounces) per week of sugar-sweetened beverages is associated with a 10 percent risk of incident atrial fibrillation compared to non-consumers, independently of traditional risk factors,” Wang explained.
“The figure rises to 20 percent for people consuming more than two liters per week of artificially sweetened beverages, surpassing the risk associated with the equal amount of sugar-sweetened beverage consumption,” he added.
Wang said that he and his colleagues noticed that the health risks of artificially sweetened beverages are
The first category was drinks with…
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