Study: Possible link between diet soda, dementia
Postmedia Network
First posted: Friday, April 21, 2017 03:53 PM EDT | Updated: Friday, April 21, 2017 03:58 PM EDT
Diet soda drinkers looking to save on calories could be doing themselves a disservice.
Recent data collected by the American Heart Association (AHA) suggested daily diet soda drinkers could be nearly three times as likely to have an ischemic stroke or suffer from dementia than those who consume less than one artificially sweetened soda per week.
“We need to be cautious in the interpretation of these results,” said Rachel K. Johnson, a professor of nutrition at the University of Vermont. “It doesn’t prove cause and effect. When you see these kinds of associations, you want to always ask what is the biological plausibility, what is the mechanism that might be causing this?”
For its stroke analysis, the seven-year study looked at the beverage intake of 2,888 Framingham Heart Study participants older than 45 years old.
The study also looked at the drink intake of 1,484 people older than 60 for its dementia findings.
Researchers then spent the next decade determining which participants developed the conditions. The results were adjusted for other variables (age, sex, habits), the AHA reported.
The American Beverage Association reiterated the study doesn’t prove cause and effect.
"Low-calorie sweeteners have been proven safe by worldwide government safety authorities as well as hundreds of scientific studies and there is nothing in this research that counters this well-established fact," the American Beverage Association said, according to the Washington Post.
That includes low-calorie sweeteners, such as aspartame.
“While we respect the mission of these organizations to help prevent conditions like stroke and dementia, the authors of this study acknowledge that their conclusions do not – and cannot – prove cause and effect," the American Beverage Association added.
STROKE STUDY
Subjects 45+: 2,888
Finding: 97 cases
DEMENTIA STUDY
Subjects 60+: 1,484
Finding: 81 cases
Study: Possible link between diet soda, dementia | Health & Fitness | Life | Tor
Postmedia Network
First posted: Friday, April 21, 2017 03:53 PM EDT | Updated: Friday, April 21, 2017 03:58 PM EDT
Diet soda drinkers looking to save on calories could be doing themselves a disservice.
Recent data collected by the American Heart Association (AHA) suggested daily diet soda drinkers could be nearly three times as likely to have an ischemic stroke or suffer from dementia than those who consume less than one artificially sweetened soda per week.
“We need to be cautious in the interpretation of these results,” said Rachel K. Johnson, a professor of nutrition at the University of Vermont. “It doesn’t prove cause and effect. When you see these kinds of associations, you want to always ask what is the biological plausibility, what is the mechanism that might be causing this?”
For its stroke analysis, the seven-year study looked at the beverage intake of 2,888 Framingham Heart Study participants older than 45 years old.
The study also looked at the drink intake of 1,484 people older than 60 for its dementia findings.
Researchers then spent the next decade determining which participants developed the conditions. The results were adjusted for other variables (age, sex, habits), the AHA reported.
The American Beverage Association reiterated the study doesn’t prove cause and effect.
"Low-calorie sweeteners have been proven safe by worldwide government safety authorities as well as hundreds of scientific studies and there is nothing in this research that counters this well-established fact," the American Beverage Association said, according to the Washington Post.
That includes low-calorie sweeteners, such as aspartame.
“While we respect the mission of these organizations to help prevent conditions like stroke and dementia, the authors of this study acknowledge that their conclusions do not – and cannot – prove cause and effect," the American Beverage Association added.
STROKE STUDY
Subjects 45+: 2,888
Finding: 97 cases
DEMENTIA STUDY
Subjects 60+: 1,484
Finding: 81 cases
Study: Possible link between diet soda, dementia | Health & Fitness | Life | Tor
