Tag Archive for: soda

Bottoms Up!

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As we approach the holiday season, do we have to skip the fruit juice punch or the pumpkin spice lattes? How about eggnog? Let’s take a look at the study on the risks of various drinks, and determine the relevance and the practical risk of what you drink.

Does What You Drink Really Matter?

Here are some of the issues I found with the study.

The data used a food frequency questionnaire as well as additional surveys to collect all the data. I’ve talked enough about the problems with the food frequency questionnaire, and the INTERSTROKE Study didn’t use any better techniques.

In prior papers from the INTERSTROKE study, the researchers identified 10 risk factors that accounted for 90.7% of the Population Attributable Risk (PAR) worldwide for a first-time stroke. The PAR together with the percentage contribution of each factor is as follows:

  • Prior history of hypertension or blood pressure of 140/90 or higher: 47.9%
  • Lack of regular physical activity: 35.8%
  • Apolipoprotein (ApoB) to ApoA1 ratio: 26.8%
  • Diet assessed by the modified Alternative Healthy Eating Index: 23.2%
  • Waist-to-hip ratio: 18.6%
  • Psychosocial factors: 17.4%
  • Current smoking: 12.4%
  • Cardiac causes: 9.1%
  • Alcohol consumption: 5.8%
  • Diabetes mellitus: 3.9%

What a person drinks would be a small contributor to the diet assessment. It’s legitimate, but there are bigger issues in my opinion.

Finally, looking at the actual risk of stroke in the U.S. and Canada, it’s 0.9% if you’re 18–44 years old, it’s 3.8% at 45–64 yrs, and it’s 7.8% if you’re over 65. That’s the risk without modifying any risk factors in the PAR. What a person drinks would be a very small contributor to that risk. I think working on BP and exercise first makes a lot more sense.

The Bottom Line

Does what you drink matter? Unless you overconsume alcohol, probably not. Could you help yourself out? Yes. Drink seven or more cups of water per day—that’s just 60 ounces—and enjoy a cup or two of any type of tea per day; if you like iced tea, try Paula’s recipe on our website. And if all you’ve ever had is black tea, you need to branch out and try some more exotic varieties. Both water and tea lowered the odds ratio of a first stroke.

Other than that, try to strike a balance with what you drink. Spend more time getting your BP under control, and one of the ways to do that is to exercise. This is as good a time as any to begin. I know you can do it.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

References:
1. International Journal of Stroke 2024, Vol. 19(9) 1053–1063.
2. Journal of Stroke 2024;26(3):391-402.
3. Lancet 2016 Aug 20;388(10046):761-75.
4. MMWR. May 23, 2024. 73(20);449–455.

What Am I Supposed to Drink?

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Why would someone ask that question? It was in response to a health news report on a couple of studies that suggested that if you drink too much fruit juice, any soda at all, or five or more cups of coffee, you’ll have an increased risk of a first stroke. Let’s take a look at the studies to see if we should change any of our drinking habits.

Based on the methodology, cases of first stroke were recruited from 142 centers in 32 countries between March 2007 and July 2015; at the same time, they recruited matched controls who did not have a stroke. They ended up with 13,462 subjects with stroke and 13,488 controls that did not have strokes. The mean age was close to 62 +/- 13 years. Besides biometric data including neural imaging, the researchers used a variety of surveys including food frequency questionnaires to determine all fluid intake.

After accounting for 15 potential factors that might skew the data, researchers calculated the odds ratios for water, soda, fruit juice, coffee, and tea intake. Teas of all types reduced the odds ratio for stroke, as did drinking seven or more cups of water per day. Any soda, fruit juice, or five or more cups of coffee per day raised the odds ratio, almost doubling the risk of a first stroke.

Should we be concerned? Let’s take a closer look at what this study really means on Saturday.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

References:
1. International Journal of Stroke 2024, Vol. 19(9) 1053–1063.
2. Journal of Stroke 2024;26(3):391-402.

Diet Soda and Your Waistline: The Bottom Line

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Let’s finish up our look at the recently published paper on diet soda and waist circumference (1). Should you stop drinking that diet soda or energy drink? You decide after you read this.

It’s obvious the researchers came in with a point of view: diet soda makes people fat. They had published or presented at least two other papers over the years that said the same thing using some of the same data. I can overlook that.

What is more difficult for me to accept is that the researchers believe this study means something in the real world . . .

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Diet Soda and Your Waistline

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We’re continuing our look at the role that diet soda may be playing in increasing your waistline especially over 65. While the study made for sensational headlines, was the attention deserved? In my opinion, no.

The premise of the paper is that as waist circumference increases, so does the risk of cardiometabolic disease: diseases associated with visceral fat (1). That would include heart disease, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, cancer, and others. Visceral fat seems to be more metabolically active (or in simpler terms, the fat under the muscle and around the organs seems to be hungrier) and thus contributes . . .

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Is Diet Soda Making You Fat?

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A week or so ago we were greeted with headlines that said that diet soda will make you fatter if you’re over 65 (1). If that doesn’t make you curious just about nothing will, especially if you’re carrying extra weight and drink diet soft drinks. Let’s see what the study was all about.

Researchers at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center have been conducting a multiethnic study called the San Antonio Longitudinal Study of Aging or SALSA for short; sometimes I think more effort goes into creating the name than designing the study. When the . . .

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