One Or More Soft Drinks Linked to Metabolic Syndrome, Study Finds

The evidence against soda — both high-fructose corn-syrup filled and artifically sweetened — keeps mounting.

Today, yet another study, which appeared appeared online in this month’s Circulation, revealed that middle-aged people adults one or more soft drinks — whether sugar-filled or "diet" drinks — have a higher prevalence and incidence of multiple metabolic risk factors, AP and CBS reported.

The biggest surprise to researchers was that drinking diet sodas could have that kind of health-harming effect, too.

The study’s senior author, Vasan Ramachandran, M.D., D.M., told CBS that the findings don’t show diet sodas are a cause of increased heart disease risks, but he said they show a surprising link that must be studied.

Although the president of the soda industry’s trade organization, the American Beverage Association, pooh-poohed the fact that diet soda could be linked to weight gain, this concept actually is nothing new, and I’ve written several times previously, including here and here, about this "paradoxical weight gain" effect.

For the study, researchers looked at 9,000 middle-aged men and women, who are part of the massive, multi-generational heart study following residents of Framingham, Mass., a town about 25 miles west of Boston.

Watch the CBS news video with Dr. Jon LaPook.

Speaking of CBS, are you aware of the fabulous CBS News Sunday Morning story, "Americans May Be Too Sweet on Sugar," for which I was interviewed a month ago?

3 thoughts on “One Or More Soft Drinks Linked to Metabolic Syndrome, Study Finds”

  2. Well, this confirms what I’ve thought all along. I don’t touch diet stuff, soda or anything else. It’s all packed with horrible chemicals.

  3. Here is a poll you can vote on: How old should a child be before they are allowed to drink Coke? http://www.apopularitycontest.com/display_poll.php?ID=3109
    Personally I am perfectly happy with my 8 year old drinking soda if it is at a party or something of that sort. Drinking soda at home she is not allowed though. I found that the easiest way to get her to not drink soda was to not drink it myself. No soda at home, no soda to drink.
    Note from Connie: Great advice, Rob, to set a good example. This is one of the pointers I often give parents myself.
    By the way, if I had my druthers, there wouldn’t be any age that’s appropriate for a child to drink soda!

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