Soft drinks, brain off

Bere bevande zuccherate non vale la pena, per molti e validi motivi: sono ipercaloriche, non tolgono la sete, spingono i consumatori a bere nuovamente, ingannano il gusto, producono danni alle ossa (perchè acidificano il sangue e richiamano il calcio per tamponare l'acidità). Oggi, emerge un ulteriore motivo per evitare i "soft drinks". Il monito viene da uno studio in cui emerge che le bevande zuccherate accrescono il rischio di ischemia (riduzione -fino al blocco- del flusso sanguigno) al cervello con la conseguente comparsa di un ictus (ischemico, per l'appunto).
Ciò è quanto documenta una ricerca giapponese pubblicata sulla rivista The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Gli autori affermano che il rischio di ictus aumenta di più dell'80% nel sesso femminile, mentre gli uomini sono colpiti in misura minore. I ricercatori hanno monitorato un gruppo di circa 40.000 uomini e donne -di età compresa tra i 40 e i 59 anni-per un periodo di ben 18 anni. Nel periodo considerato, circa 2.000 persone sono state colpite da ictus. Con maggior frequenza coloro che consumavano bevande gassate e zuccherate, soprattutto donne. Gli autori concludono, quindi, che il consumo di "soft drinks" è chiaramente associato con un aumentato rischio di ictus ischemico nel sesso femminile.  Un motivo in più per desistere.

 

• © 2012 American Society for Nutrition

Soft drink intake in relation to incident ischemic heart disease, stroke, and stroke subtypes in Japanese men and women: the Japan Public Health Centre–based study cohort I

1. Ehab S Eshak, 
2. Hiroyasu Iso, 
3. Yoshihiro Kokubo,
4. Isao Saito,
5. Kazumasa Yamagishi, 
6. Manami Inoue, and 
7. Shoichiro Tsugane

• ↵2 Supported by Grants-in-aid for cancer Research (19shi-2) and a Health Sciences Research Grant [research on Comprehensive Research on Cardiovascular Disease (H19-016)] from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan.

1. Public Health Medicine, Department of Social and Environmental Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, Suita Shi, Osaka 565-0871, Japan. E-mail:iso@pbhel.med.osaka-u.ac.jp.

Abstract

Background: Soft drink intake has been associated with obesity and diabetes, but its relation with risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) is limited.

Objective: We examined the association between soft drink intake and risk of CVD in a Japanese population.

Design: This was a prospective study in 39,786 Japanese men and women aged 40–59 y in which soft drink intake was determined by using a self-administered food-frequency questionnaire. Follow-up was from 1990 to 2008. HRs and 95% CIs of incidence were calculated according to categories of soft drink intake.

Results: During 18 y of follow-up, we ascertained 453 incident cases of ischemic heart disease (IHD) and 1922 cases of stroke, including 859 hemorrhagic and 1047 ischemic strokes. Soft drink intake was positively associated with risk of total stroke and more specifically ischemic stroke for women; the multivariable HR (95% CI) in the highest soft drink intake (almost every day) category compared with the lowest intake (never or rarely) category was 1.21 (0.88, 1.68; P-trend = 0.02) for total stroke and 1.83 (1.22, 2.75; P-trend = 0.001) for ischemic stroke. That association did not change significantly after the exclusion of early incident cases within 3–9 y from baseline. A nonsignificant inverse trend for risks of total and ischemic strokes was shown for men, and it was weakened after the exclusion of early incident cases or after the exclusion of participants with baseline comorbidities. Soft drink intake was not associated with risk of IHD or hemorrhagic stroke for either sex.

Conclusion: Soft drink intake is associated with higher risk of ischemic stroke for women.

• Received February 26, 2012.
• Accepted August 27, 2012