Soft-drink ingestion a pressure quandary
Source: Agencies |
May 26, 2010, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
DRINKING fewer sugary drinks may help lower blood pressure, according to United States researchers.
They found overweight people with high blood pressure who drank one less sugar-laden beverage a day significantly lowered levels over 18 months.
For most Americans this means cutting soft-drink intake in half.
"We found if you lower your consumption of sugary drinks, it may help you reduce your blood pressure," said Dr Liwei Chen of Louisiana State University Health Science Center, whose findings appear in the journal Circulation.
"If you reduce your consumption by two servings, you would probably lower your blood pressure even more," Chen said in a telephone interview on Monday.
The study adds to mounting pressure on US food and beverage companies as newly passed health-reform legislation shifts the nation's focus on ways to prevent disease as well as treat it.
Too much sugar not only makes people fatter, but is also a key culprit in diabetes, heart disease and stroke, according to the American Heart Association.
A report by the US Institute of Medicine in February declared high blood pressure a "neglected disease" in the US, accounting for one in six deaths and adding US$73 billion a year in health costs.
Chen's study looked specifically at the effect of sugar intake on blood pressure.
The team used data on 810 adults aged 25 to 79 with borderline high blood pressure - readings of 120/80 to 139/89 - and stage I hypertension, readings of 140/90 and 159/99.
At the start of the study, people drank 310 milliliters, or roughly one serving, of sweetened beverages a day.
After 18 months, average consumption had fallen by half a serving, and both the systolic and diastolic blood pressures fell significantly.
They found overweight people with high blood pressure who drank one less sugar-laden beverage a day significantly lowered levels over 18 months.
For most Americans this means cutting soft-drink intake in half.
"We found if you lower your consumption of sugary drinks, it may help you reduce your blood pressure," said Dr Liwei Chen of Louisiana State University Health Science Center, whose findings appear in the journal Circulation.
"If you reduce your consumption by two servings, you would probably lower your blood pressure even more," Chen said in a telephone interview on Monday.
The study adds to mounting pressure on US food and beverage companies as newly passed health-reform legislation shifts the nation's focus on ways to prevent disease as well as treat it.
Too much sugar not only makes people fatter, but is also a key culprit in diabetes, heart disease and stroke, according to the American Heart Association.
A report by the US Institute of Medicine in February declared high blood pressure a "neglected disease" in the US, accounting for one in six deaths and adding US$73 billion a year in health costs.
Chen's study looked specifically at the effect of sugar intake on blood pressure.
The team used data on 810 adults aged 25 to 79 with borderline high blood pressure - readings of 120/80 to 139/89 - and stage I hypertension, readings of 140/90 and 159/99.
At the start of the study, people drank 310 milliliters, or roughly one serving, of sweetened beverages a day.
After 18 months, average consumption had fallen by half a serving, and both the systolic and diastolic blood pressures fell significantly.
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