No safe haven: Diet sodas linked with health risks

By Julie Steenhuysen

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Sodas -- even diet ones -- may be linked with increased risk factors for heart disease and diabetes, U.S. researchers said on Monday.

They found adults who drink one or more sodas a day had about a 50 percent higher risk of metabolic syndrome -- a cluster of risk factors such as excessive fat around the waist, low levels of "good" cholesterol, high blood pressure and other symptoms.

"When you have metabolic syndrome, your risk of developing heart disease or stroke doubles. You also have a risk of developing diabetes," said Dr. Ramachandran Vasan of Boston University School of Medicine, whose work appears in the journal Circulation.

Prior studies have linked consumption of sugar-laden sodas with multiple risk factors for heart disease, but Vasan and colleagues also found the link extends to diet sodas.

The study included about 6,000 middle-aged men and women who were observed over four years.

Those who drank one or more soft drinks a day had a 31 percent greater risk of becoming obese.

They had a 30 percent increased risk of developing increased waist circumference -- which has been shown to predict heart disease risk better than weight alone.

They also had a 25 percent increased risk of developing high blood triglycerides as well as high blood sugar, and a 32 percent higher risk of having low high-density lipoprotein or "good" cholesterol levels.