Diet Soda Linked to Premature Death In Women

Is your beverage of choice a diet soda?  If your answer is "YES", this may influence your beverage drinking habits! 

The artificial sweeteners Aspartame (NutraSweet) and Sucralose (Splenda) are commonly found in sugar free soda and have both been previously linked to a multitude of health problems.

According to a new study, Women who drink the most diet soda, may also be more likely to develop heart disease.  Researchers found women who drank two or more diet drinks a day, were 30% more likely to have a heart attack or another cardiovascular event and 50% more likely to die, than women who rarely touch diet sodas.

The findings that were presented at a meeting of the American College of Cardiology, don't suggest that the drinks themselves are killers, because women who toss back too many diet sodas may be trying to make up for unhealthy habits. 

"Our study suggests an association between higher diet drink consumption and mortality," said Dr. Ankur Vyas, a cardiovascular disease expert at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinic, who led the study.

Research has long shown that artificially sweetened drinks are not health drinks. While they may help people avoid other sugary sodas, studies show they don't help people lose weight.

Vyas' team studied nearly 60,000 middle-aged women taking part in a decade-long study of women's health. They filled out a questionnaire on food and drinks as part of the study, including detailed questions on diet sodas and diet fruit drinks.

The women who drank the most drinks were also more likely to smoke, to be overweight, to have diabetes and to have high blood pressure, Vyas noted.

For More Information:

http://www.hungryforchange.tv/article/diet-soda-linked-with-premature-death-in-women