Sugar-sweetened beverages are harmful to health and may be addictive, researchers suggest

Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Just as we might have guessed, those tasty, sugar-sweetened beverages that increase risk of diabetes and other chronic diseases may actually be addictive. Youth between 13 and 18 years of age who were deprived of sugary drinks for just three days reported headaches, cravings and other withdrawal symptoms, according to a University of California study with researchers from both the Davis and Berkeley campuses.
All 25 participants in this exploratory study reported normally consuming at least three sugar-sweetened beverages a day before the study and were told they were participating in a study exploring "how soda affects teenagers' health."

24 nov 2018--The youths reported the following specific symptoms during the three-day period of cessation from sugary drinks: increased headaches, decreased motivation to do work, lack of contentment and ability to concentrate, cravings for sugary drinks, and lower ratings of overall wellbeing.
The findings were published in an article, "Potentially addictive properties of sugar-sweetened beverages among adolescents," appearing in the journal Appetite.
"An abundance of research points to sugary drinks as contributing to a number of chronic diseases. Our findings—that these drinks may have addictive properties—make their ubiquitous availability and advertising to youth even more concerning for public health," said Jennifer Falbe, assistant professor in the Department of Human Ecology in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at UC Davis and the lead author of the article.
The teens, all overweight, were instructed to consume their normal beverages for five days, then, for three days afterward, to consume only water or plain milk. They were reimbursed for travel and received up to $160 for participation.
Participants, a diverse population living in and around the San Francisco Bay Area, kept beverage journals and reported in to researchers several times during the study. Three quarters of the participants were female. They also submitted saliva samples to test for caffeine intake, which could affect results. Most of the participants were not high caffeine consumers before the study, reducing the likelihood that participants were just suffering from caffeine withdrawal, an established disorder, rather than also reduced sugar intake.
Among nine participants, there were some lapses in compliance, usually due to drinking flavored milk instead of plain milk.
The study noted that results were consistent with previous research that has reported the addictive potential for sugar, a relatively new but burgeoning area with parallels to substance abuse. Additionally, researchers said, the study was needed because sugar-sweetened beverage consumption by teens had increased five-fold since the 1950s, and adolescence is a time for increased susceptibility to addiction. Young people, the report said, consume the largest amounts of sugary beverages and have experienced the greatest relative gains in obesity in the past several decades.
The study may have important implications for public health and should be repeated with a larger sample, the researchers said.
"These results, combined with present and future corroborating evidence, could inform clinical practice around helping adolescents reduce sugar-sweetened beverage intake, have important implications for messaging in public health campaigns, and inform the need for efforts to reduce sugar-sweetened-beverage advertising to youth and those drinks' availability in and around schools," the report concluded.

More information: Jennifer Falbe et al. Potentially addictive properties of sugar-sweetened beverages among adolescents, Appetite (2018). DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2018.10.032


Provided by UC Davis

Fructose-rich beverages associated with increased risk of gout in women

Consumption of fructose-rich beverages, such as sugar-sweetened sodas and orange juice is associated with an increased risk of gout among women, although their contribution to the risk of gout in the population is likely modest because of the low incidence rate among women, according to a study that will appear in the November 24 print edition of JAMA. The study is being released early online to coincide with its presentation at the American College of Rheumatology annual scientific meeting.

13 nov 2010--Gout is a common and very painful inflammatory arthritis. "The increasing disease burden of gout in the United States over the last few decades (e.g., an annual incidence of 16/100,000 in 1977 vs. 42/100,000 in 1996) coincided with a substantial increase in soft drink and fructose consumption," the authors write. "Fructose-rich beverages such as sugar-sweetened soda and orange juice can increase serum uric acid levels and, thus, the risk of gout, but prospective data on the relationship are limited."

Hyon K. Choi, M.D., Dr.P.H., of the Boston University School of Medicine, and colleagues examined the relationship between intake of fructose-rich beverages and fructose and incidence of gout in a large group of women. The study consisted of data from the Nurses' Health Study, a U.S. prospective cohort study spanning 22 years (1984-2006). The researchers analyzed data from 78,906 women with no history of gout at the beginning of the study and who provided information on intake of beverages and fructose through validated food frequency questionnaires.

During 22 years of follow-up, the researchers documented 778 newly diagnosed cases meeting American College of Rheumatology survey criteria for gout. They found that increasing intake of sugar-sweetened soda was associated with increasing risk of gout. Compared with consumption of less than 1 serving per month, women who consumed one serving per day had a 74 percent increased risk of gout; and those with 2 or more servings per day had a 2.4 times higher risk. Diet soft drinks were not associated with the risk of gout.

Orange juice intake was also associated with risk of gout. Compared with women who consumed less than a glass (6 oz.) of orange juice per month, women who consumed 1 serving per day had a 41 percent higher risk of gout, and there was a 2.4 times higher risk with 2 or more servings per day. Also, compared with women in the lowest quintile (fifth) of free fructose intake, women in the highest quintile had a 62 percent higher risk of gout.

The authors note that although the relative risks of gout associated with fructose-rich beverages among women were substantial, the corresponding absolute risk differences were modest given the low incidence rate of gout among women.

The researchers add that their findings have practical implications for the prevention of gout in women, and that physicians should be aware of the potential effect of these beverages on the risk of gout. "Our data provide prospective evidence that fructose poses an increased risk of gout among women, thus supporting the importance of reducing fructose intake."

More information: JAMA. 2010;304[20]:doi:10.1001/jama.2010.1638