Sweetened beverages linked to risk of heart disease

Previous research has linked sugar-sweetened beverages to weight gain and an increased risk of type 2 diabetes. The study reviewed here investigated the association between sugar-sweetened beverages and the risk for coronary heart disease in 88,250 women aged 34-59 years (Fung T.T. et al, 2009). These women were free of heart disease at the start of the study and were followed for 24 years.

The more often these women consumed the sweet beverages, the higher was the risk for coronary heart disease. The researchers concluded that even after other unhealthful lifestyles or dietary factors were accounted for, regular consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages is associated with a higher risk of coronary heart disease in women.

Reference:

Fung TT, et al. Sweetened beverage consumption and risk of coronary heart disease in women. Am j Clin Nutr. 2009 Apr; 89(4): 1037-42.

Sleep is important for your blood pressure

Getting enough quality sleep is important for the immunity and health in general.

The interesting thing is that sleep can affect the blood pressure drastically. 1741 men and women participated in a recent study to evaluate how insomnia and poor sleep affected blood pressure (Alexandros N., et al., 2009).

The participants were divided into three categories. One group, 50% of the participants got 6 hours or more of sleep per night. Another group got approximately 5-6 hours of sleep and the third group slept for 5 hours or less per night.

As you probably have guessed the ones with insomnia and less than five hours sleep duration had the highest risk for hypertension (high blood pressure) and then came the participants with insomnia who slept between 5-6 hours. The risk for hypertension was also significantly higher, but of lesser magnitude, in poor sleepers with short sleep duration.

References:

Alexandros N. et al. Insomnia with Objective Short Sleep Duration is Associated with a High Risk for Hypertension. Sleep 2009;32(4):491-497.

Less salt helps more than blood pressure

A low salt diet is usually recommended for people who have high blood pressure.

The study referred to here investigated the effect of salt reduction on vascular function by measuring artery flow-mediated vasodilation (widening of blood vessels) (Dickinson KM, et al, 2009).

The researchers compared measurements after 2 weeks of an usual-salt diet with a low-salt diet (1/3 of the salt) after 2 weeks in overweight and obese people with normal blood pressure. Blood pressure was also measured.

The results showed that the systolic blood pressure went down on the low-salt diet. What also improved was the endothelium-dependent vasodilation and it was concluded that salt reduction provides additional cardioprotective effects beyond blood pressure reduction.

Reference:

Dickinson KM, et al. Effects of a low-salt diet on flow-mediated dilation in humans. Am J Clin Nutr. 2009 Feb;89(2):485-90.

Reduce meat intake and live longer.

This may not be what you want to hear, but there are some interesting evidence why it makes sense to reduce the intake of red meat and processed meat.

The study reviewed here investigated the relations of red, white and processed meat intake to the risk for total and cause specific mortality (Sinha R, et al, 2009). This was a large study including half a million people aged 50-71 years with a follow up of 10 years. Multiple factors were calculated for, you can click on the reference below for specifics.

Main outcome measures included total mortality and deaths due to cancer, cardiovascular disease, injuries and sudden deaths, and all other causes.

The researchers concluded that red and processed meat intakes were associated with modest increases in total mortality, cancer mortality and cardiovascular disease mortality.

White meat from chicken, turkey and fish are better choices unless you are a vegetarian.

Reference:

Sinha R, et al. Meat intake and mortality: a prospective study of over half a million people. Arch Intern Med. 2009 Mar 23;169(6):562-71.