A new research that suggests people who drink sugary beverages daily tend to accumulate extra deep belly fat over time is one more reason to cut down on sugar intake. The study, of 1,003 adults, found that those who consumed at least one sugar-sweetened drink a day had a bigger increase in deep abdominal fat over the next six years.
The results are alarming because that type of fat - known as visceral fat - surrounds a number of vital organs and is particularly unhealthy. Visceral fat is the kind that is closely associated with the risks of type 2 diabetes and heart disease, according to Alice Lichtenstein, a spokeswoman for the American Heart Association (AHA).
The study was carried out in the US by researchers from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute’s Framingham Heart Study and Population Sciences Branch, Tufts University and Harvard Medical School.
The findings, published last week in the journal Circulation, confirms past research that people who consume a lot of sugary drinks tend to have higher rates of diabetes and heart disease. They suggest a “mechanism” behind that, said lead researcher Jiantao Ma of the Framingham Heart Study and Population Sciences Branch.
The researchers used CT scans to measure each participant’s levels of visceral fat, at the study’s start and again six years later. At the outset, 13% of the study group said they drank at least one sugar-sweetened beverage daily. And on average, those men and women showed the greatest increase in visceral fat over the next six years. Compared with people who never had sugary drinks, daily consumers accumulated about 27% more visceral fat, the investigators found.
As Lichtenstein pointed out, people who drink a lot of sugary beverages probably have other less-than-healthful habits. “People who consume a lot of added sugar also tend to eat fewer vegetables, get less exercise and be more likely to smoke,” she said. Sugar-sweetened drinks are just one part of that larger picture, Lichtenstein said. Still, she added, cutting out those beverages is an “easy” way to drop added sugar from your diet.
According to the AHA, one 12-ounce can of regular soda contains about 132 calories of added sugar. A majority of people who consume soft drinks are ignorant of the large intake of sugar. Drinking water instead of sugar-sweetened drinks is a cheap and easy way to cut down on sugar intake, and should be encouraged – especially in children.
Given that 17% of the adult population in Qatar suffer from diabetes and the number could double by 2045 if effective steps are not taken, the Supreme Council of Health had formally launched in November last year the National Diabetes Strategy. More work is needed on the ground, especially on the awareness creation front.
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