How to age well: limit sugary drinks to one a week to avoid weight and fat gain, and prevent killer diseases, study suggests
- Each extra sugary drink consumed per week increases the odds of you being affected by diabetes, gout, obesity, heart disease and depression
- Links between high sugar consumption and cancers, including those of the breast, prostate and pancreas, are suspected, although more research is needed
People should have only one sugary drink a week, researchers say, after a study linked high levels of sugar consumption to a wide range of health conditions, including cancer.
For each extra sugary drink consumed per week, people can increase their odds of suffering a number of conditions, the authors said.
High sugar consumption is “generally more harmful than beneficial for health”.
The authors also called for more research into the links between high sugar consumption and cancer, after the study suggested a link between the two.
Academics in China and the United States conducted an “umbrella review” on the health impacts of sugar intake.
They examined evidence from multiple existing reviews of evidence and in total examined data from 73 meta-analyses involving 8,601 studies.
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The evidence review, published in The BMJ, suggested that higher sugar intake was linked to 45 health outcomes.
The authors found “significant harmful associations” between sugar consumption and diabetes, gout, obesity, high blood pressure, heart attacks, strokes, asthma, tooth decay, depression, premature death and some cancers – including breast, prostate and pancreatic cancer.
And when the researchers looked specifically at sugary drinks, they found “moderate” evidence to suggest that people who drank the highest number were more likely to have a higher body weight compared to those who drank the fewest.
The authors, led by experts from Sichuan University in China, said these findings – combined with World Health Organization, World Cancer Research Fund and American Institute for Cancer Research guidance – suggest reducing the consumption of added sugars to below 25g per day, around six teaspoons, and limiting the consumption of sugary drinks to less than one serving a week.
Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) says that adults should have no more than 30g of free sugars a day, roughly equivalent to seven sugar cubes.
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“If you prefer fizzy drinks, try diluting no-added sugar squash with sparkling water,” the NHS website adds.
The review found evidence of harmful associations between having sugar-sweetened drinks and weight gain – and in particular, obesity in children; between having added sugars and developing ectopic fat that accumulates in the liver, heart, pancreas and muscles and interferes with metabolism and the functioning of cells; between coronary heart disease and drinking sugar-sweetened beverages; and between depression and sugary drinks. These links were more reliable than those for other outcomes.
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“To change sugar consumption patterns, especially for children and adolescents, a combination of widespread public health education and policies worldwide is urgently needed,” the authors wrote.
