Daily Intake Of Fizzy Drink Raises Health Risk, Dubles Chace of Death

Scientists have discovered a alarming link between excessive consumption of sugar found in fizzy drinks or processed food and heart-related deaths.They found that even one fizzy drinka day was enough to increase the chances of dying from cardiovascular disease 9CVD) by almsta third, and for those consummig a quarter of theirdaily calories from sugar, the risk of heart related dealth doubled.

Added sugar is that which is introduced to the processig of food products rather than comming from natual sources such as fruit. The study was published Tuesday in JAMA iternal medicine.

Dietary guidelines from the World Health Organisation recommend that added sugar should account for less than 10 per cent of calorie intake.

But British capaigners are calling for an upper limit of five per cent,along with a sugary drinks taxbecause they say sugar is the new tobacco.

prof.Graham Mac Gregor, chairman of Action on Sugar, said: "This is an Important study

"It clearly shows a high sugar intake is associated with an increased risk of stroke and heart attacks, highlighting the need for much more focus on reducing sugar to reduce obesity and cardiovascular risk.

Not only is added sugar an unnecessary cause of calories and a cause of tooth decay, but also predisposes to strokes and heart attacks. We need to take action now".

The study, led by Dr. Quanhe yang, from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, used US national health survey data to determine how much added sugar people were consuming.

Betewwn @005 and 2010, added sugar accounted for at leat 10 per cent of the calories consumed by more than 70 per cent of the US population. about a tenth of adults got a quarter or more of their calories from added sugar, says a report in JAMA Internal Medicine.

The data was matched against heart disease mortality over a period of 14.6 years,during which 831 CVD deaths were recorded in the study group, which was representative of the population.

The risk of heart -related death was 38 per cent higher for people who consumed 17 to 21 per cent of daiy calories from sugar compared with those who were under 10 per cent. It was four times higher for those getting one-third or more of calories from added sugar.

For those consuming a quarter of their daily calories from sugar the risk of heart-related death doubled, researchers found. Campaigners are now calling for a sugar tax - saying the substance is the new tabacco.