Drinking diet soda, despite being viewed has a healthier, low-calorie alternative to sugary soft drinks, might increase your risk of stroke; claims new research.
Soft drinks have been blamed as a major cause of the United States' obesity epidemic, prompting states like New York to propose taxing the beverages.
The new study examined the effects of moderate or regular (every day) diet soda consumption, and found diet soda raised stroke risk by nearly 50%.
Presented at this year's American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference, experts analyzed data on 2,564 people, dividing study participants into different groups based on their soda consumption: individuals who drank regular soda moderately or every day; diet soda drinkers; and people who avoided soda. Moderate drinking was defined as one to six servings per week.
Results showed people who drank diet soda every day had a 48% higher risk of stroke than people who did not drink soda; even when considering other factors, like history of heart disease, smoking, and exercise.
Overall, by the end of the study (nine years), 559 study participants had suffered a vascular event: 221 strokes, 149 heart attacks, and 338 total deaths.
Based on the findings, the scientist say diet soda may not be the "optimal substitute" for sugar-sweetened beverages.
And, previous research has linked drinking diet soda to metabolic syndrome. The American Heart Association classifies metabolic syndrome as a collection of conditions - such as high blood pressure, stroke, obesity, and type-2 diabetes - known to raise the risk of coronary heart disease.
Image credit: ollipitkanen
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