Bad News: Soda Increases Your Risk Of Heart Failure
Your daily jolt of energy from a can or two of soda comes with significant risks, including heart failure, suggests a recent study from Sweden.
In the study, lead researcher Susanna Larsson and her colleagues observed the drinking habits of approximately 42,000 men for 12 years, measuring their consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs).
Researchers found that men who drank two or more servings of sugar-sweetened beverages per day had a 23 percent greater risk of heart failure than their peers, and observed 3,600 new cases of heart failure during the course of the decade-long study.
Although the study was conducted using only male subjects, that doesn't mean that women are safe from the risks. "Sweetened beverage consumption has been associated with blood pressure, insulin concentration, weight gain, obesity and type 2 diabetes in women," Larsson wrote in an email to Reuters.
As if you needed a reason to protect yourself against heart failure, note that the condition is on the rise, as Larsson and her colleagues warned.
And though you can live with it, it makes for a "very miserable life," Dr. Roberto Bolli, chief of cardiovascular medicine at the University of Louisville's School of Medicine, told CNN. "Patients with heart failure are severely limited in their ability to perform daily tasks, Bolli said. "They get short of breath for even small efforts like walking one block, or sometimes even walking inside their house."