Sour news on sweet drinks
The average American, whether young or old, consumes about 17 teaspoons of added sugar a day, or around 270 extra, empty calories. About 50% of those calories come from downing sugary drinks.
We've said over and over that added sugars and syrups are a risky indulgence -- fueling inflammation, obesity, diabetes, some cancers and heart disease. And research now shows that getting your dangerous dose of sugars from beverages may be the riskiest form of all. A long-term study in Frontiers of Public Health found that for almost 70,000 Swedish men and women 45-83 years old, it was sweetened beverages (sodas, juices and sports drinks, for example) that created the greatest risk for ischemic stroke, heart failure, atrial fibrillation, and abdominal aortic aneurysm.
Add to that the findings of another study, published in Nature, that drinking fructose-laced beverages (and eating processed foods) allows the liver to dish up a steady supply of nutrients that are used by cancer cells, fueling melanoma, breast cancer and cervical cancer.
But ... that first study also found that folks who didn't drink sweetened beverages or eat lots of added sugars weren't necessarily dodging heart disease. We think: 1. They may be indulging in artificial sweeteners, which promote overeating and harm heart health; or, 2. To make up for missing sweets, they eat too many unhealthy fats, which damage cardiovascular health, too.
Your smart move is to enjoy naturally sweet fruits (whole, not juiced) and check ingredient labels for added sugars and high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and fructose.
Dr. Mike Roizen is the founder of www.longevityplaybook.com, and Dr. Mehmet Oz is global advisor to www.iHerb.com, the world's leading online health store. Roizen and Oz are chief wellness officer emeritus at Cleveland Clinic and professor emeritus at Columbia University, respectively. Together they have written 11 New York Times bestsellers (four No. 1's).
(c)2025 Michael Roizen, M.D.
Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.
(c) 2025 Michael Roizen, M.D. Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.
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