(Reuters Health) — Sweet drinks have been linked to a slightly higher risk of developing high blood pressure, but, contrary to earlier research, a large new study finds that fruit sugar in those drinks is not the likely culprit behind that association.
Following more than 200,000 men and women for up to 38 years, researchers found that regularly consuming sweetened drinks — either containing sugars or artificially sweetened — was associated with a rise of about 13 percent in the risk of developing high blood pressure.
Carbonated and cola drinks were most strongly linked to risk for hypertension, but fructose in drinks did not stand out as a driving factor, the group reports in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.
High consumption of fructose from foods, such as fresh fruits, was tied to lower odds of developing blood pressure problems.
“We don’t know what causes the increased risk in artificial- or sugar-sweetened beverages,” said Dr. Lisa Cohen, lead author of the study and a researcher at the University of Maryland Medical Center.
“It’s hard to say that from the fructose itself you’re increasing your hypertension risk,” she added.
Dr. Richard Johnson, a professor at the University of Colorado, Denver, who was not involved in the study, said the results are not enough to let fructose off the hook.
Work by Johnson and others has implicated fructose as a factor related to the risk of high blood pressure (see Reuters Health story of July 1, 2010).
Earlier studies, however, have only taken a snapshot in time, Cohen said, and could not determine which came first — the high blood pressure or the taste for sweet drinks.
Cohen and her colleagues looked at data from three massive studies, including nearly 224,000 healthcare workers, whose diet and health were tracked for 16 to 38 years.
No participants had diagnosed high blood pressure at the beginning of the study period.
Over time, those who drank at least one sugar-sweetened beverage a day had a 13 percent increased risk of hypertension, compared to those who only had a sweet drink once a month or less.
Similarly, people who drank at least one artificially-sweetened drink a day had a 14 percent increased risk of developing hypertension relative to those who had little or none.
The increases are fairly small, but, Cohen said, “over a large population, it is a significant risk.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 30 of every 100 adults have hypertension.
A 13 percent increase in the population’s risk would boost that number to about 34 in 100.
To see if it’s the fructose in sugar-sweetened drinks that’s responsible for the differences, the researchers also looked at people who had high levels of fructose in their diets from other sources, such as fruits.
“You would think if fructose were the causative factor, then eating a lot of apples (for example) would also increase your risk of hypertension,” Cohen told Reuters Health.
Among the people who consumed 15 percent of their calories from fructose sources other than drinks, the risk of developing hypertension was either lower or the same as people who ate very little fructose.
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Ingesting HFC ( high fructose corn syrup) , a common sweetener used in soft drinks, is not the same as eating an apple! Fruit has many co factors (and fiber ) that allow the fructose to be metabolized less quickly. The sugar content of a typical 16 oz,soft drink weighs in at about 30 grams with almost zero nutritional value. Not to say one should gorge themselves on fruit, but tere is simply no reason to drink a supersized coke other than to spike ones sugar levels which in turns may lead to insulin resistance and a host of illnesses.
Agree. How could they do a 244,000,000,000 person study and ignore the difference between high fructose and complex sugars?
Documented research now shows that an increased insulin level from high glucose foods is a causative factor in hypertension just as much as sodium.
This makes a lot of sense and I looked this up when I was first diagnosed with HBP. I never ate salty foods, as a matter of fact I hate salty food. The diagnosis made no sense. I told the doctor, “if you told me I was diabetic I would believe you, but this makes no sense”. I don’t eat fast food, nor drink sodas and juices, but I have a sweet tooth. Although this study focused on beverages, I’m sure it’s the same for sweet foods. I also noticed that my BP went up anytime I ate a large amount of sweets. Cutting back on pastries and chocolate has stabilized my HBP.