Drinks with added sugar bad for heart: Study

UPASANA KAURA

If you are a regular with sugary drinks including soda, ditch them now. For consuming sugary drinks may cause lipid imbalance which, in turn, increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), states a new study, published in Journal of the American Heart Association.
According to the study, even 12 ounces of sugary drinks more than once a day is harmful as it lowers high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and increases triglycerides, both of which raise the risk of CVDs in the middle-aged and older people.
As against sugary drinks, fruit juices do no harm to heart. The research found that consuming up to 12 ounces of 100 per cent fruit juice a day has no impact on cholesterol or dyslipidemia (an abnormal amount of lipids (e.g. triglycerides, cholesterol and/or fat phospholipids) in the blood).
Around 40-50 per cent US adults suffer from dyslipidemia, an imbalance of cholesterol and triglyceride in blood, which increases the risk of CVDs.
Dyslipidemia is the most important atherosclerotic risk factor. Review of population based studies in India shows increasing mean total cholesterol levels.
In India, recent studies have reported that high cholesterol is present in 25–30 per cent of urban and 15–20 per cent rural subjects. This prevalence is lower than high-income countries. The most common dyslipidemia in India are borderline high LDL cholesterol, low HDL cholesterol and high triglycerides. Studies have also shown that over a 20-year period total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels have increased among urban populations.