from Tufts University
Sugar-Sweetened Beverages Increase Women's Heart Risk Factors
Women who drink 2 or more sugar-sweetened beverages a day may be increasing their cardiovascular risk factors - even if they don't gain weight. Research presented at a meeting of the American Heart Association reports that regular consumers of sugary drinks were more likely to increase waist size and develop high triglyceride levels and impaired fasting glucose, compared to women sipping less than a single daily sugar-sweetened beverage. The study followed an ethnically diverse group of 4,166 adults, ages 45 to 84, for about 5 years.
Women who drank at least 2 sugary drinks daily were also more likely to gain weight, although the unhealthy changes in heart-disease risk factors were observed regardless of changes in weight. The same associations weren't seen in men consuming sugary drinks. That led investigators to suggest women may need to watch the sugary calories in what they drink more closely because women have lower total calorie needs.