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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Soft drinks -- even diet ones -- may increase your risk for heart disease and diabetes.
Researchers looked at the soft drink habits of more than 6,000 middle-aged men and women participating in the Framingham Heart Study. They report adults who drink one or more diet or regular soft drinks a day have about a 50-percent higher risk of metabolic syndrome and multiple metabolic risk factors.
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Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of risk factors for cardiovascular disease and diabetes that include excessive fat around the waist, low levels of "good" cholesterol, and high fasting glucose levels. Having three or more of the factors increases your risk of developing diabetes or cardiovascular disease.
The American Heart Association stresses this is an observational study and does not show soft drinks actually cause risk factors for heart disease. Instead, it shows participants who drank soft drinks were more likely to develop the risk factors. But there are other explanations for this relationship. For example, people who drink soft drinks often also eat and drink more overall calories, saturated fat and trans fat and consume less fiber and dairy products. They also tend to be less physically active, which was found to be true among study participants.
The authors say more research is needed to understand the associations they saw before they make any recommendations to the public.
This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, which offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, click on: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.
SOURCE: Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association, published online July 23, 2007
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