HHS HealthBeat (July 24, 2007)

Have a soda

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

A soda – or maybe more – a day doesn’t sound like a big deal. But research suggests it might turn into one – people who drink at least a soda a day have a higher risk of metabolic syndrome.

Metabolic syndrome includes being too big around the waist, poor cholesterol and blood sugar levels, and high blood pressure.

Boston University School of Medicine’s Ramachandran Vasan:

``Metabolic syndrome, as we know, is a precursor of both diabetes and heart disease. So the association with just more than one soft drink is something which is amazing.’’ (8 seconds)

Even diet soda had the association. Vasan isn’t sure what to make of that. But he says exercise, proper diet and weight control reduces the risk of metabolic syndrome.

The study in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Learn more at hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss

Last revised: July, 24 2007