Each 8 oz (250 mL) daily increase in sugar-sweetened beverages increased the risk of stroke by 9% - depression by 8% - cancer by 17% and death by 7%. Extrapolating further, drinking 3 sugar-sweetened drinks daily would increase the risk of stroke by 27%, depression by 24% - cancer by 51% - and death by 21%.
ABSTRACT
The associations between sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption and the risk of stroke, depression, cancer, and cause-specific mortality have not been determined, and the quantitative aspects of this link remain unclear. This meta-analysis therefore conducted a systematic review and dose-response analysis to determine their causal links. The database searches were conducted in PubMed, Cochrane library, Embase, Web of Science up to 10 November 2021. The intervention effects were evaluated by relative risk (RR) with 95% confidences (CI). Thirty-two articles met the inclusion criteria. Higher levels of SSB consumption significantly increased the risk of stroke (RR 1.12, 95% CI 1.03-1.23), depression (1.25, 1.11-1.41), cancer (1.10, 1.03-1.17), and all-cause mortality (1.08, 1.05-1.11) compared with none or lower SSB intake. The associations were dose-dependent, with per 250 mL increment of SSB intake daily increasing the risk of stroke, depression, cancer, and all-cause mortality by RR 1.09 (1.03-1.15), 1.08 (1.06-1.10), 1.17 (1.04-1.32), and 1.07 (1.03-1.11), respectively. The link was curved for depression and cancer risk (pnon-linear < 0.05). Subgroup analysis suggested that higher SSB intake increased ischemic stroke by 10%, CVD-caused mortality by 13%, and cancer-caused mortality by 6.0% than none or lower SSB consumption. It is suggested that SSB accounts for a leading risk factor of stroke, depression, cancer, and mortality, and that the risk rises in parallel with the increment of SSB intake (and is affected by participant characteristics).
CONCLUSIONS
Our study demonstrated that the risk of stroke, depression, cancer, and mortality increased in parallel to the increment of SSB consumption. The findings have clinical significance since the risk factors are modifiable, and reduction of SSB consumption helps to prevent some chronic diseases and disease-related mortality. However, well-designed prospective studies are still needed to confirm the findings of our reports and to determine the correlation between SSB consumption and the occurrence of some important chronic diseases, such as dementia and Parkinson’s disease.