According to a recent research, switching to diet soda for reducing the intake of calorie may be risky for health. Researchers have reported that health risk is 23% higher for women. Consuming high amounts of artificially sweetened beverages increases the risk of stroke.
Consumption of Diet Sodas and Increased Stroke Risk
Sylvia Wassertheil Smoller, belonging to Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and his colleagues, analyzed at the data of 81,714 women aged fifty years and above. After that, a comparison was made between the two. The ones who took diet sodas or sweet beverages every day and the ones who did that only once a week or not at all were compared.
It was observed that women consuming sweetened beverages everyday were at 23% high risk of stroke than those who don’t. They are also at 31% increased risk of ischemic stroke. The risk of stroke caused by a clot in obese people is double. Further, the risk in African-American women is higher by four times.
Studies show that diet drinks consumers are 29% more likely to get heart diseases. They are also 16% more likely to die from such a cause. The researchers said,
In this study of well-characterized postmenopausal women in the United States, self-reported consumption of ASBs was associated with increased risk of ischemic stroke, CHD, and all-cause mortality.
No proof of Cause and Effect Relationship
According to researchers, studies are observational and there is no causal relationship. However, it is still for the benefit of the consumers to reduce their intake of artificially sweetened beverages. Even if the actual health risks are not too high, it is always good to take precautions.
