[acb-diabetics] reducing sugar drinks will low BP as well as A1C

Mon Jun 14 17:57:04 GMT 2010

This article originally posted 

08 June, 2010

 and appeared in  

Issue 525

Reducing Sugar Beverages Lowers Blood Pressure as Well as Blood Sugars

Reducing the consumption of beverages that contain added sugar can lower
blood pressure, but not only because it may reduce body weight, according to
a

prospective cohort study that also found no influence on BP from caffeine or
consumption of diet soft drinks....

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The analysis also suggested that change in overall intake of sugar, whether
added to or naturally occurring in food and drink, had an effect on BP.

The study found -- in its population of >800 adults participating in a
hypertension trial of dietary and behavioral interventions -- that drinking
one less

sugar-sweetened beverage a day was independently associated with declines of
about 1.2 mm Hg and 1.1 mm Hg in systolic and diastolic BP, respectively,

over 18 months. The relationships remained significant after researchers
further controlled for weight change.

Lead author 

Dr. Liwei Chen (Louisiana State University Health Science Center, New
Orleans) stated that, "Our study is observational in nature, but our data
show that

if you reduce sugary drink consumption, you will reduce blood pressure." The
findings, she said, are consistent with studies using different animal
models

that show increased sugar intake can induce hypertension, even after
controlling for weight. 

In the current study, a third of participants cut their consumption by 1.3
servings per day over 18 months, and systolic BP dropped 1.5 mm Hg more than

it did in participants who didn't change their intake of sugar-sweetened
beverages, Chen et al write. So intake reduced to at least that degree
"should

be achievable and could be beneficial."

In the current analysis, which included 810 participants in the randomized,
multicenter PREMIER trial with prehypertension or stage 1 hypertension,
daily

intake of calories, different nutrients, and beverages (derived from the
average of two 24-hour dietary recalls) was determined at baseline, six
months,

and 18 months. 

Sugar-sweetened beverages, defined as any drinks with added sucrose or
high-fructose corn syrup, included "soft drinks, fruit drinks, lemonade,
fruit punch,

and other sweetened beverages but excluded diet drinks. Diet beverages were
defined as carbonated or noncarbonated drinks that were sweetened with
[noncaloric]

artificial sweeteners."

After a variety of potential influences on blood pressure, including
body-mass index but not body weight, were controlled for, changes in
sweetened beverage

intake over 18 months were significantly related to changes in systolic and
diastolic BP (p<0.001 for both). Adding weight change to the covariates
attenuated

both the effect of such intake on BP and its significance, although p values
remained <0.05, "suggesting that reducing sugar-sweetened beverage intake

has a BP-lowering effect that is independent of weight loss."

In the non-weight-adjusted model, systolic and diastolic pressures,
respectively, changed 0.30 mm Hg (p<0.001) and 0.24 mm Hg (p<0.001), for
every 10-g/day

difference in total consumption of sugars from all food and beverages. The
BP changes over 18 months were still significant when weight change was
added

to the model, at 0.17 mm Hg (p=0.003) and 0.15 mm Hg (p<0.001). Intake of
caffeine or artificially sweetened drinks showed no significant
relationships

with blood pressure in either model. 

"Our study has important public-health implications," observe Chen et al.
"For example, it has been estimated that a 3-mm-Hg reduction in systolic BP
should

reduce stroke mortality by 8% and coronary heart disease mortality by 5%.
Such reductions in systolic BP would be anticipated by reducing
sugar-sweetened

beverage consumption by an average of two servings per day."

Circulation, May 24, 2010: Chen L, Caballero B, Mitchell DC, et al. Reducing
consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages is associated with reduced blood
pressure.

A prospective study among United States adults. Circulation 2010; DOI:
10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.109.911164.   

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This article originally posted 08 June, 2010 and appeared in  

Issue 525

Reducing Sugar Beverages Lowers Blood Pressure as Well as Blood Sugars

Reducing the consumption of beverages that contain added sugar can lower
blood pressure, but not only because it may reduce body weight, according to
a