Skip the Soda

Study Links Diet Soft Drinks With Cardiac Risk

By Ed Edelson
HealthDay Reporter,

HealthDay

Posted: 2007-07-23 16:11:02

MONDAY, July 23 (HealthDay News) -- Drinking more than one soda a day -- even if it's the sugar-free diet kind -- is associated with an increased incidence of metabolic syndrome, a cluster of risk factors linked to the development of diabetes and cardiovascular disease, a study finds.

The link to diet soda found in the study was "striking" but not entirely a surprise, said Dr. Ramachandran Vasan, study senior author and professor of medicine at Boston University School of Medicine. There had been some hints of it in earlier studies, he said.

"But this is the first study to show the association in a prospective fashion and in a large population," Vasan said.

That population consisted of more than 6,000 participants in the Framingham Heart Study, which has been following residents of a Massachusetts town since 1948. When the soda portion of the study began, all participants were free of metabolic syndrome, a collection of risk factors including high blood pressure, elevated levels of the blood fats called triglycerides, low levels of the artery-protecting HDL cholesterol, high fasting blood sugar levels and excessive waist circumference. Metabolic syndrome is the presence of three or more of these risk factors.

Over the four years of the study, people who consumed more than one soft drink of any kind a day were 44 percent more likely to develop metabolic syndrome than those who didn't drink a soda a day.

The findings are published in the July 24 issue of the journal Circulation.

A variety of explanations, none proven, have been proposed for the link between diet soft drink consumption and metabolic syndrome, Vasan said. That association was evident even when the researchers accounted for other factors, such as levels of saturated fat and fiber in the diet, total calorie intake, smoking and physical activity.

One theory is that the high sweetness of all soft drinks makes a person more prone to eat sugary, fattening foods. Another is that the caramel content of soft drinks promotes metabolic changes that lead to insulin resistance. "These are hotly debated by nutritional experts," Vasan said.

Vasan, who noted that he is not a nutritional expert, said he leans toward the theory that "this is a marker of dietary behavior" -- that people who like to drink sweet soda also like to eat the kind of foods that cardiac nutritionists warn against.

"But we cannot infer causality," Vasan said, meaning there is no proof that soda itself is the villain. "We have an association. Maybe it is a causal one or maybe it is a marker of something else."

Carefully controlled animal studies might resolve the cause-and-effect issue, he said.

Dr. Elizabeth G. Nabel, director of the U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, which funds the Framingham Heart Study, said in a prepared statement: "Other studies have shown that the extra calories and sugar in soft drinks contribute to weight gain, and therefore heart disease risk. This study echoes those findings by extending the link to all soft drinks and the metabolic syndrome."

Dr. Suzanne R. Steinbaum, director of Women and Heart Disease at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, said, "There is no safe way of eating junk food, just as we learned the lesson from trans fats and partially hydrogenated oils often found in fat-free or low-fat cookies. Diet soda does not protect us from the development of what we are trying to avoid by consuming it."

More information

Learn more about metabolic syndrome at the American Heart Association.

SOURCES: Ramachandran Vasan, M.D., professor of medicine, Boston University; Suzanne R. Steinbaum, M.D., director, Women and Heart Disease, Lenox Hill Hospital, New York City; July 24, 2007, Circulation

Eat This, Heal... A Broken Bone

Don't forget, a broken bone doesn't necessarily mean you can't work out at all. Talk with your doctor or physical therapist and see if you can get the green light to continue seeing your trainer.
Your body needs: Calcium, vitamin D, magnesium and phosphorus to help bone rebuild itself.

You should eat: A fruit smoothie made with 1 cup calcium- and vitamin-d- fortified orange juice, 1 tablespoon honey, 3/4 cup plain nonfat yogurt, and 1/2 cup chopped or slivered almonds.

Metabolism Booster

Tip: Maintain Your Metabolism

You've been reading about the benefits of exercise, but here's some news about diet. Lyssie Lakatos, R.D., co-author of Fire Up Your Metabolism reveals some interesting nutritional information in the June issue of Shape.

Are you getting enough selenium and vitamin D?
Research shows that a diet low in either of these nutrients may affect your thyroid's ability to produce metabolism-regulating hormones. You can get the recommended 55 micrograms of selenium a day with foods like tuna, turkey, and cottage cheese. You need a daily dose of 400IU of vitamin D, which is found in fortified lowfat milk and salmon.

Fitness and Parenting

All Child-Play and No Workouts Make Dad an Unfit Boy

Below is an excerpt for a great article in the NYTimes, which explores how becoming a parent can affect a person's workouts and fitness routines. Click here for the whole article.

THEY count among their ranks former marathoners and Ironmen, beached surfers and scuba divers. They lay off red meat and trans fats. They stay current on annual physicals and take their medications as prescribed.

And yet, this group of the once-fit finds itself at risk of becoming unhealthy and stacking on the pounds, because of one threat to their physical fitness: children.

...

Too many Americans have an all-or-nothing mentality toward fitness, said Dr. Harvey B. Simon, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School. If they can’t find a 45-minute window to bike, they don’t substitute by strapping on a BabyBjörn and taking a stroll.

“There is a very common misconception, one that is shared by physicians as well as by the public, that exercise requires a set amount of time and a formal program,” said Dr. Simon, who has two grown daughters. “I’m fond of saying that the aerobic exercise movement inspired the few and discouraged the many.”

Heart-healthy exercise can take many forms (gardening, car washing, stair climbing) and needn’t be done in continuous chunks to be beneficial, said Dr. Simon, the author of “The No Sweat Exercise Plan.”

Having three and a half hours of exercise to lose puts the study’s participants well above the norm, said Janet Fulton, an epidemiologist in the division of nutrition and physical activity at the Centers for Disease Control. After all, three-quarters of Americans don’t meet the minimum requirement of two and a half hours a week, she said.

Still, cutting back on exercise as a new parent has hidden costs. “Reducing their activity in this critical period of time is probably not going to help their adjustment in terms of a new person in their house,” Dr. Fulton said. “The long-term stuff, the chronic-disease risk reduction, is great, but immediately, they’re not getting the mental-health benefit.”

For those parents who can’t stomach exercise, however, their children serve as a bulletproof cop-out. When single or childless people say they have no time to exercise, it can ring hollow. But a mother of three? Watch those heads nod in sympathy.

Reluctant exercisers use parenthood as “an excuse to not do it at all,” said Dana Wood, a mother and the health and beauty director for Cookie, a parenting magazine.

Q & A: What does "working in" mean?

If someone at the gym asks you if he can "work in," don't glare at him for making an indecent proposal. He's just asking if he can share the equipment in between sets.

If someone inquires as to how many sets you have left, it's good manners to ask if he or she would like to work in. This shouldn't interfere with your workout, and it could be a great way to meet a potential gym buddy or workout partner.

Cut the Sliced Bread (Out)

Any way you slice it, white bread isn't a good choice. A new Italian study concluded that eating more than four slices of white bread a day doubles your risk of developing kidney cancer. The reason: "White bread, like other refined grains, has a high glycemic index," says study author Francesca Bravi, ScD. "That means it raises blood sugar and insulin levels, which may spur the growth of cancer cells." Consider this yet another to curb your carb intake, as well as to make sure the bread you do eat is made with 100 percent whole grains.

Drug Warning for Expectant Mothers

Drug Warning! Women who take anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as Aleve, Advil, Motrin, Celebrex or Vioxx, during their first trimester of pregnancy may be more likely to have babies with congenital defects, especially heart abnormalities. Previous studies have shown that taking NSAIDs late in pregnancy can cause circulatory defects. For relief of minor pain during pregnancy, most doctors recommend Tylenol.