Sugary Drinks And CHD

High Intake of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages Associated With Coronary Artery Calcium

SEOUL, KOREA — Drinking at least one sugar-sweetened carbonated beverage per day during the workweek may increase coronary artery calcium (CAC), new research suggests[1].

A study of more than 22,000 adults in South Korea without prior coronary heart disease showed that those who consumed five or more regular soft drinks per week had a fully adjusted CAC ratio of 1.7 vs the nonconsumers (95% CI 1.0–2.8).

This ratio was adjusted for age, sex, physical activity, smoking, dietary factors, history of hypertension or hypercholesterolemia, and family history of CHD.

“Our findings indicate that the cardiovascular hazards of carbonated-beverage consumption are evident even in the subclinical stages of atherosclerosis,” note the investigators, led by Dr Sohyun Chun (Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea), adding that this type of drink “has become a major public-health and public-policy issue.”

The findings were published online April 16, 2016 in the American Heart Journal.