Did we need any more reason to avoid diet soda like poison? Did we really need more research telling us one more way that it destroys our bodies?
No, we didn’t need another reason or any more research, but yes, there are plenty of people who keep on drinking it, so here’s some more data for ‘ya.
At the American Stroke Association’s annual conference today a study was discussed that suggests drinking a lot of diet soda could increase your risk for a heart attack or stroke. The study looked at more than 2,500 people for nine years, and as part of that study the participants tracked their soda consumption. 163 of them drank one or more diet sodas per day. Just over 900 drank no soda at all.
The diet soda drinkers had a 61% higher risk for a cardiovascular event such as stroke or heart attack than the non-soda drinkers. In studies like these it’s virtually impossible to determine causality, but there were definitely strong associations.
One part that may be behind the increased risk for stroke is the sodium intake, which both diet and regular soda have a lot of. Sodium has long been linked to risk for cardiovascular disease, whether it’s ingested in food or drink.
But in my opinion, blaming sodium is an easy cop out. The other elements of soda, the chemical poison parts, are certainly in play here but they’re much more difficult to study.
Am I coming across too harshly? I might be, but when you see something that’s become so ingrained in our society, and accepted as totally natural, yet there is tons of information out there that shows how this stuff is killing people or at best making them sick, I can’t help but get worked up.
Research has already linked drinking regular or diet soda to diabetes and metabolic syndrome, which leads to diabetes. The corn syrup in regular soda has its own laundry list of human frailties that it causes. There is simply no reason to touch soda, there is no possible up side, yet many people drink more soda every day than water.
Hopefully more research like what was released today keeps coming out, not because we need more, but because it keeps the media talking about. And hopefully that will lead to more and more people swearing off the stuff.
Here’s a toast to those of you out there reading this with your glasses of filtered water in hand. Bottoms up.
Hey guys – great post. Tyler’s Grasshopper Soccer coach just committed all the 5 and 6 year olds there not to drink any fizzy. We promise we’ll keep the fridge de-stocked for you 🙂
Kev
Good on youse! We can’t wait to see you guys.
Do the kids that age in Oz drink much in the way of carbonated beverages? Seems like it’s becoming more of a trend in the U.S.