Sweet drinks have been linked to a slightly higher risk of
developing high blood pressure, but a U.S. study finds that
fruit sugar may not be the culprit as found in earlier research.
Researchers followed more than 200,000 men and
women for up to 38 years and 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
a risk for hypertension, but fruit sugar, or fructose, in drinks
did not stand out as a driving factor, the group reported in the
Journal of General Internal Medicine.
“We don’t know what causes the increased risk in
artificial- or sugar-sweetened beverages,” said 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.”
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg last week
proposed a ban on large-size sugary sodas, the latest in a
string of public health initiatives that include a campaign to
cut salt in restaurant meals and packaged foods.
Earlier studies had implicated fructose as a factor related
to a risk of high blood pressure, but Cohen noted that those
have only taken a snapshot in time and could not determine
which came first, the high blood pressure or 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 start of
the study. Over time, those who drank at least one
sugar-sweetened beverage a day had a 13 percent increased
risk of developing hypertension relative 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 few or
none.
To see if it was the fructose that was responsible,
researchers also looked at people who had high levels of
fructose in their diets from other sources, such as fruits.
Among 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.
“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.
The “markedly” stronger link between carbonated sweet
drinks and increased hypertension risk might be explained by
the larger serving sizes associated with sodas, or some other
unknown ingredient common to all of them, the researchers
said — but further research is needed.
【題組】49. According to the article, which might be a causative
factor for high blood pressure?
(A) Sugar-sweetened beverages.
(B) Artificially sweetened beverages.
(C) Carbonated drinks.
(D) All of the above.