(30-08-10) Diet Soda Linked to Premature Birth

by Danna Norek, citizen journalist



New studies are suggesting there is a link between premature births and
regular consumption of artificially sweetened soft drinks. The study, which was
commissioned in Denmark, looked at 60,000 pregnant women and their resulting
births and studied their consumption of diet soft drinks.

They found that women who had a higher intake of diet soda had a significantly
higher risk of delivering their babies preterm. The increased risk was
calculated around 38% higher in women who had one diet soda per day in
comparison to women who had none at all.

Even more alarming, they found that women who had four or more diet sodas per
day had an 80% higher risk of giving birth prematurely than their diet soda
free counterparts.

While regular soda has been linked to high blood pressure in and of itself,
the premature birth link to soda is specific to artificially sweetened soft
drinks only. This logically suggests that the link is really due to the
artificial sweeteners that are commonly used to sweeten soft drinks.

The artificial sweeteners that are typically used to make soft drinks taste
sweet are aspartame and saccharin, but aspartame seems to be the most popular.
Aspartame has the alarming ability to break down in the body to other toxic
compounds like formaldehyde and formic acid.

The recommendation for pregnant women has always been that consuming these
artificial sweeteners in moderation during pregnancy is acceptable.

However, this new research study may prove otherwise, and have pregnant women
everywhere searching for healthier alternatives. Or better yet, avoiding diet
soda all together.

Even for people who are not pregnant, this is food for thought as to what you
are actually putting in your body when you drink diet sodas. Any substance that
adds to the risk of premature birth cannot be good for the human body, after
all.

Women who are pregnant may want to think about healthier alternatives for
their sugary soda cravings. There are some lower calorie sweetened soda
beverages that can be found in health food stores that contain natural
sweetener alternatives.

Also, they may want to consider adding fresh squeezed lemon to their water,
which can satiate some of the cravings for sugary sweet drinks. Adding some
fresh fruit to water for flavor also may help healthfully satisfy these types
of cravings.

Or, if they really want to experience a soft drink, perhaps reaching for the
real stuff may be a slightly healthier option than diet soda, according to this
study. It's important to note however, that carbonated beverages in general
have been linked to bone weakness because of their potential to leach calcium.

Carbonated beverages in general should be consumed minimally, especially by
women, who tend to experience bone brittleness and calcium retention issues
more than men.

Sources :
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3838363...
http://www.sheknows.com/articles/80...
http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/food...

Source:NaturalNews

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In evidenza

"L'informazione presente nel sito serve a migliorare, e non a sostituire, il rapporto medico-paziente."

Per coloro che hanno problemi di salute si consiglia di consultare sempre il proprio medico curante.