Diet Soda Tied to Stroke Risk
 

Diet soda tied to stroke risk, but reasons unclear

February 09, 2011

By MARILYNN MARCHIONE, AP Medical Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) - It's far from definitive proof, but new research
raises concern about diet soda, finding higher risks for stroke and
heart attack among people who drink it everyday versus those who drink
no soda at all.

The beverage findings should be "a wakeup call to pay attention to diet
sodas," said Dr. Steven Greenberg. He is a Harvard Medical School
neurologist and vice chairman of the International Stroke Conference in
California, where the research was presented on Wednesday.

A simple solution, health experts say, is to drink water instead.
Doctors have no chemical or biological explanation for why diet soda may
be risky. It could be that people who drink lots of it also fail to
exercise, weigh more, drink more alcohol or have other risk factors like
high blood pressure and smoking. However, the researchers took these and
many other factors into account and didn't see a change in the trend.
"It's reasonable to have doubts, because we don't have a clear
mechanism. This needs to be viewed as a preliminary study," said lead
researcher Hannah Gardener of the University of Miami.

But for those trying to cut calories, "diet soft drinks may not be an
optimal substitute for sugar-sweetened beverages," she said.

The numbers come from the Northern Manhattan study, which enrolled about
2,500 adults over 40 in the New York area from 1993 to 2001 through
random phone calls. Half are Hispanic and one-fourth are black, making
it one of the few studies to look at these risks in minorities, who have
higher rates of stroke.

Participants filled out a standard survey about their diets at the start
of the study, and their health was tracked for nearly 10 years. In that
time there were 559 strokes or heart attacks, 338 of them fatal.
Daily diet soda drinkers (there were 116 in the study) had a 48 percent
higher risk of stroke or heart attack than people who drank no soda of
any kind (901 people, or 35 percent of total participants). That's after
taking into account rates of smoking, diabetes, waistline size and other
differences among the groups.

No significant differences in risk were seen among people who drank a
mix of diet and regular soda.

Earlier studies have tied diet and regular soda consumption to greater
risk of diabetes and a group of weight-related problems called the
metabolic syndrome.

Some diet soda critics have suggested it can promote a sweet tooth,
affecting behavior and how much of a person's diet comes from sugary
sources rather than healthier fruits, vegetables and grains.
These sorts of studies just observe groups of people and are not strong
enough evidence to prove risk.

"It's too preliminary to suggest any dietary advice," but other big
studies should look at this question, Gardener said.
Greenberg, of the stroke association, called it "a real-world" look at
possible risk.

Dr. Maureen Storey, senior vice president of science policy for the
American Beverage Association, said in a statement that there is no
evidence "that diet soda uniquely causes increased risk of vascular
events or stroke."

"The body of scientific evidence does show that diet soft drinks can be
a useful weight management tool, a position supported by the American
Dietetic Association. Thus, to suggest that they are harmful with no
credible evidence does a disservice to those trying to lose weight or
maintain a healthy weight."

The beverage group's statement also noted researchers didn't adjust
their results for family history of stroke. Gardener, the researcher,
said that's not "a substantial weakness."

The same federally funded study also looked at a more conventional
health risk - salt. It found higher risks for people eating more than
1,500 milligrams a day. That's the limit the American Heart Association
recommends, but last week's new dietary guidelines from the government
say it's OK to have a little more.

Researchers found that stroke risk rose 16 percent for every 500
milligrams of salt consumed each day. Those who took in 4,000 or more
milligrams of salt had more than 2.5 times greater risk of stroke
compared to those who limited themselves to 1,500 milligrams.
A teaspoon of salt contains about 2,300 milligrams of sodium. About
three-fourths of the salt we eat, though, comes from processed foods,
especially tomato sauce, soups, condiments, and canned foods.
___
Online:
Stroke conference: www.strokeconference.org

why big girls drink 72ounce big gulps of diet coke is beyond me..

I'm doomed

im surprised they needed a study to confirm this

i wonder what the stats would be between those who drink diet soda and regular soda

they also released a study saying if you don't get enough sound sleep it increases heart attack risk by 48%, stroke by 12%.

that's a pretty interesting study... definitely makes me reconsider my thoughts on it.

And yet NY state tried to impose a tax on non-diet sodas on the premise that they were promoting the healthier options. They should just stop lying and say it's to generate income.

You can make your own soda at home anyway by the way. It's just extract, water, sugar and champagne yeast to carbonate it (or keg it and use CO2).

It's because fat cunts eat 6 bigmacs and 9 large fries all balanced out with 2 pints of diet coke and think they are healthy.

I'll have the #8 super duper sized, an xtra grande milk shake, 4 apple pies, 2 cookies, 1 bag of dorritos, and a diet coke

just drank a diet coke - FTW

I have a serious diet coke addiction...

I agree with the sentiment that it's not the diet soda causing the issue as much as those who drink it use it as a substitute for eating healthy and getting plenty of exercise.

newsflash

diet soda is bad for you man

drink water...you know i like you..i speak from the hip so to say

diet coke is pure poison for your body

1 a month..not so bad

5 a day...you are killing your organs

1 a day? probably the same but slower

says who? this is the first credible study i have read about diet soda in FUCKING YEARS... what you were reading was propaganda based nonsense that wasn't backed up by anything. It even mentions that it may not even be the soda itself that links the heightened risks...

Not to mention it doesn't finger aspartame specifically either...

Since I don't really care for the taste of aspartame there's no real concern with me on this.

But I don't drink a lot of pop anyway, of any kind. When I'm in the mood for a mixed drink I'll put some rum in some coke (or pepsi), that's about it. Or a vodka & key lime cola perhaps.


Anyone not liking me calling it "pop" can kiss my aspartame, btw. :D

Well - if the teen pussy doesn't kill me first, the diet coke will.

Really and truely just stick to water, but make sure it ain't got fluoride in!

qft

the problem with these kind of studies are that there isn't enough of a user base with similar dietary situations to be able to base a valid conclusion on.

Especially these stroke/cancer studies which are long-term based...

eg, take 500 subjects, follow them for 20 years. At the end of 20 years, you've lost contact with say 100. So 400 subjects, 50 die of strokes. Out of those, 25 drunk diet coke, 5 drunk regular, and 20 drunk water. Therefore, you have a 25/400 or 25/50 risk of dyeing from a stroke (depending on how you spin the numbers). If you take the more reasonable value of 25/400 and say out of those 25, how many smoked and you find 35 and say out of the 400 how many smoked, you found 200, then you're risk is 10/400 or 10/50? Then out of those non-smokers (global), you say how many eat carrots and 200/400 ate carrots, but out of those that die (50), 40 ate carrots, is the risk more significant if you eat carrots, smoked and drunk diet coke, than someone who didn't eat carrots, smoked but drunk water?

Answer after a few tokes. :pimp

Just because it's published science, doesn't make it credible.....

Is anything safe to eat/drink nowadays ??

I saw this reported on the news earlier. Sucks, because I love diet soda. Most of it's better than regular soda. I stopped drinking diet soda as much a few months ago because I knew it just had to be bad for you. I mean, really, it's all just chemicals. It's made out of crap that's supposed to just pass right through you but you have to figure some of it stays behind.

Don't become a health food faggot, Footsie...

all that stuff is just sugar or sugar substitute and water. its useless, its crap. stop drinking it.

Nope.

Having lots of birthdays can kill you too.

Wow! News! I thought diet soda was good for me! RIIILY.

look around you...i have seen countless fat overweight people drinking diet coke.

no matter what it is extra chemicals for your body to process...unnatural chemicals.

lots of people are drinking diet soda and their health is terrible because of it.

like i said earlier in the thread, i am surprised they needed a study to confirm this.

cause and effect can be clearly shown

sorry if you like to drink diet soda, i'm sure you are not already overweight and you probably don't down 3-4 of them a day...so you are somewhat out of the scope of the type of person who needs to be more concerned with this.

Thank you Dr. Talkoutofmyass

Because you see overweight people drinking Diet Coke, cause and effect can be clearly shown?? So when I see hot MILFS at the local Starbucks, that means that drinking a FooFoo calorie laden coffee causes you to have big fake tits? I mean cause and effect here is clearly shown.

And please explain to me Doctor how an increased stroke risk can be traced back to drinking Diet Coke? You said it was common knowledge and they don't really need a study to confirm. And try to be more specific than take a look around or TMZ said Dick Clark guzzled diet Dr Pepper.

Even the study cited raised questions about the validity of the report.

go guzzle 3 diet cokes a day for a year or two

i mean its perfectly healthy...you should give it to your children as well

its sugar crap...and its terrible for you.

actually....just drink diet pop..skip water and other liquids
enjoy it

have 5 of them a day..everyday, make sure your family is drinking it down as well

its good for you

Just look at all of the chemicals they put in diet soda. It's obvious it's not good for you. Even the science behind it is off. "We've created a liquid that's mainly chemicals your body can't absorb so they pass right through you." I mean, come on. You know that can't be healthy. Some of the chemicals probably do get absorbed by your body. One diet soda a day might not be terrible but a few a day over a period of time is probably a recipe for some major health problems. Cancer, alzheimer's, stroke, etc.

I still drink diet soda sometimes (I've cut way back) because I love it but I've been trying to drink healthier stuff like tea here and there.

Just my two cents.

are you kidding?

Atticus wants to feed it to his newborn kids
and guzzle 3-4 a day instead of water...cause they make it with water

:winkwink:

Right? The funny thing is that the first ingredient of Diet Mt. Dew is "concentrated orange juice." I'm not even making that up. Hey, I guess that means it's good for you!

:1orglaugh

No goddamn wonder I jerk off so much.

so diet soda isn't good for the body? that's amazing.

Got it. You have absolutely zero facts or studies to back up your "common knowledge", just you've seen fat people drinking it. You're quite the expert on the subject.

Even the study cited above raises questions about the experiment and it's validity and states the reason might be because people who drink the artificial sweeteners then have a higher craving for additional sweets and then consume those, thus causing the higher risk of heart disease and stroke.

That's like saying guys with small dicks buy fast cars to over compensate and then race them on the freeway and crash more. Then a study comes out linking highway fatalities to guys with small dicks.

Well, it does seem to follow cause and effect quite well.. :upsidedow

Same here.

right like i read that

have a diet pop for me today please...hell im feeling generous...have two

give one to your kids as well...they need it for the water and health benefits it must surely give them

LOL

Yeah , why bother reading the actual things you comment on. Might as well just spew 'common knowledge' out of your ass. Good life plan.

i feel like i'm being trolled by you is all

why bother to get into it....you cant surely be serious and are riding the diet coke is good for you train?

so you must be trolling me

otherwise...have three diet cokes today and everyday for a year and then come back and tell us how good it is for you

i will do the opposite, ill have no diet cokes, and almost zero other cokes all year

i only drink natural things like water, milk, beer, wine and whiskey :winkwink: :glugglug

this may be true
but i think real problems are going to come from energy drinks like redbull.
Its too soon to even know the problems associated with them. They have been around like 10-15 years?

People go at them like mad. Its crazy.
They taste aweful too.

blah blah everyone can fine concerns in anything. Without proof it's all just jargon.

Newsflash: Drinking a dark brown artificial concoction all the time is not good for your health.

Not trolling and I never said Diet Coke was good for you. You, however, claim it's common knowledge that diet sodas cause strokes. I'm curious how you obtain that common knowledge as no study before this one linked strokes to Diet soft drinks. And even this one raises questions about the validity in the same report. When asked, you claim its because you see fat people drinking diet soda. Real scientific.

And on a side note I drink way to much Diet Coke. About 4-6 cans a day easy. That's down from a 12 pack per day a few years ago. I'm 34, 6' and 190. I get a physical every year and come out with a report of good health each year. By your 'common knowledge' I should have been doing my best Kirk Douglas impersonation years ago.

high fructose corn syrup kills..

Good to know, but Diet Coke doesn't have high fructose corn syrup.

Probably because fat people drink diet soda.

My theory is that the kind of folks who drink diet soda are much more at risk to begin with --compared to the general population.