Sugar Drinks Kill: 'Pepsi-Assisted Suicide,' 'Significant Number Of Deaths Occurring From Sweetened Beverages'

Research published in the American Heart Association's Circulation journal reveals sugar-laden drinks are detrimental to heart health. These drinks include sodas to fruit drinks. 

"Many countries in the world have a significant number of deaths occurring from a single dietary factor, sugar-sweetened beverages,” said Dariush Mozaffarian from Tufts University in Boston, who was the lead author of the study, reported medicinenet.

The researchers found, 184,000 global deaths are from linked to diabetes. And this, in turn, is connected to the prevalent use of

 “sugar-sweetened beverages” (SSBs). 

Another 45,000 die globally from cardiovascular diseases caused by sugary drink consumption, and 6,450 people die from cancers linked to sugar-laden beverages.

The researchers said soda lovers should “substantially reduce or eliminate sugar-sweetened beverages from [their] diet.”

“There are no health benefits from sugar-sweetened beverages, and the potential impact of reducing consumption is saving tens of thousands of deaths each year,” he added.

 Mexico's death rate from sugary drinks was equivalent to 450 deaths/per million adults. The US revealed 125 estimated deaths/ per million adults.

More than 3/4 of the deaths are due to the use sugar drinks among low-to-middle income countries, according to the report.

The study “indicates the need for population based efforts to reduce SSB consumption throughout the world through effective health policies and targeted interventions directed at stemming obesity-related disease,” the report said, according to rt.com.

2Published on Monday that the study is the first evaluation of a worldwide study assessment of worldwide deaths attributable to sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs). It was conducted by an international team of researchers from Harvard, Tufts, and Washington universities in the US, and Imperial College London.