Home Cardiology Higher Consumption of Sugary Drinks May Up Mortality in Adults

Higher Consumption of Sugary Drinks May Up Mortality in Adults

Findings include both sugar-sweetened beverages and 100 percent fruit juices

TUESDAY, May 21, 2019 (HealthDay News) — Consumption of sugary beverages, including 100 percent fruit juices, is associated with higher all-cause mortality in U.S. adults, according to a study published online May 17 in JAMA Network Open.

Lindsay J. Collin, M.P.H., from Emory University in Atlanta, and colleagues assessed the association of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) and 100 percent fruit juices, alone and in combination, with mortality using data from the Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke. The analysis included 13,440 participants enrolled from February 2003 to October 2007, with follow-up every six months through 2013. All participants (59.3 percent male; mean age, 63.6 years) completed a food-frequency questionnaire, and 70.8 percent were overweight or obese.

The researchers found 1,000 all-cause and 168 deaths related to coronary heart disease (CHD) during a mean follow-up of 6.0 years. Mean sugary beverage consumption was 8.4 percent of total energy per day (4.4 percent of total energy per day from SSBs and 4.0 percent total energy per day from 100 percent fruit juice). The risk-adjusted hazard ratios were 1.44 (95 percent confidence interval [CI], 0.97 to 2.15) for CHD mortality and 1.14 (95 percent CI, 0.97 to 1.33) for all-cause mortality when comparing high (≥10 percent of total energy) versus low (<5 percent of total energy) sugary beverage consumers. The risk-adjusted all-cause mortality hazard ratios were 1.11 (95 percent CI, 1.03 to 1.19) and 1.24 (95 percent CI, 1.09 to 1.42), respectively, for each additional 12 ounces of sugary beverage and fruit juice consumed. When adjusting for risk, there was no significant association of sugary beverage consumption with CHD mortality.

“These results suggest higher consumption of sugary beverages, including fruit juice, is associated with increased mortality,” the authors write. “Well-powered and longer-term studies are needed to inform their association with CHD mortality risk.”

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