Regular female drinekrs also 30 per cent more likely to have heart attacks
Diet soft drinks can lead to heart problems and diabetes for women in later life, a study shows (library image)
Women who drink two diet drinks a day could be 30 per cent more likely to suffer a heart attack or stroke later in life, research has shown.
A study of 60,000 women in their 50s and 60s found a strong link between consuming large amounts of apparently healthy soft drinks and heart disease.
American researchers from the University of Iowa looked at the records of almost 60,000 women whose average age was 63.
They found that women who drank two or more diet beverages a day were 30 per cent more likely to suffer a heart attack or stroke and 50 per cent more at risk of dying from a heart-related problem.
These women were also 30 per cent more likely to die from other illnesses unrelated to heart problems.
The scientists suggested that this could be because diet drinks tend to be popular among the overweight and diabetics, who are more at risk of heart disease in the first place.
Another theory is that the drink’s artificial sweetener aspartame interferes with chemicals in the body which cause us to crave sugar. Instead of feeling satisfied – as we would after drinking a full-fat drink – we want more sugary food so end up snacking on sweets, chocolate or cake.
But lead researcher Dr Ankur Vyas said: ‘We only found an association, so we can’t say that diet drinks cause these problems.
‘What our study does is raise this question and hopefully over the next few years we’ll have a definite answer.’
Previous studies have also shown colas - both diet and full fat - can lead to lower bone density (library image)
And Professor Peter Weissberg, medical director at the British Heart Foundation, said it was too early to say that diet drinks caused heart disease.
He added: ‘In this large observational study of post-menopausal women in America there was an association between drinking two diet drinks per day and increased risk of developing heart disease, but the findings are not conclusive and do not necessarily mean that diet drinks cause heart disease.
‘Further research in other groups is needed to confirm whether diet drinks can actually cause heart disease. For the time being, women should moderate their intake of both high sugar and diet drinks and avoid overindulging in both.’
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2592739/Just-diet-doesnt-mean-wont-diabetes-Even-just-two-lower-calorie-soft-drinks-day-cause-problems-women-later-life.html#ixzz2xUqhs0RP
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