Experts weigh in on diet soda being bad for your heart health

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) - Consuming sugar-sweetened and artificially sweetened beverages may be linked to an increase in atrial fibrillation, a sometimes-deadly heart condition. A new study posted to the American Heart Association Journals website shows a link between people who drank diet soda or zero-sugar soda with an increased risk of AFib.

"The people that they saw over the course of this study for either of those types of sweetened beverages, had an increased chance of having atrial fibrillation, a chance not definitely having it by 10 to 20%. Probably the most significant thing that we worry about or hear about is the risk of strokes that go up with atrial fibrillation," said Dr. Blair Suter, Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Cardiology. "They're called diet beverages, but they're not necessarily on a diet, right?”

The study tracked more than 200,000 people over ten years. The data gathered showed an increase in AFib in people who consistently drank sugar or artificial-sweetened beverages.

Suter said this study does make you think twice but stopped short of calling it "alarming."

"I wouldn't say alarming, but I wouldn't say that even for me, that's something that kind of raises your eyes to it,” he said. “It really makes you think about the kinds of things that you're putting in your body. It's something that, you know, even though it's not, you know, a proving study, it's something that definitely grabs my attention and makes me think about."

"People who drank more than two liters a week of diet soda, which is around a can a day, it's about five and a half or six cans a week, had a higher risk of developing AFib. One key thing to remember is there's a correlation here. It's not saying there was a causation from drinking diet soda," said Lisa Valente, Registered Dietician and Nutrition Editor for Healthine.com.

Valente said this study is one of the first that shows negative health effects from a diet soda.

“There's a lot of research that we have that times regular soda just like a lot of sugar-sweetened beverage consumption or added sugar consumption to health risks,” she said. “So, it can increase your risk of diabetes, obesity, heart disease, insulin resistance. This is really the first time we're seeing a correlation with diet soda drinkers.”

This study also showed a positive correlation between people who drank about four ounces of fruit juice every day and developing AFib

Both Valente and Suter agreed that the best way to support heart health isn't necessarily cutting soda or diet soda from your diet, but making sure you're getting 30 minutes of exercise five times a week and eating plenty of fruits and vegetables would be a good place to start.

"There's likely a benefit to drinking more water and less diet soda,” Valente said. “There's probably also a benefit to choosing diet soda over regular soda just to help reduce that added sugar consumption. I would say start small. So think of one change you could make. And for some people that change is going to be going from a sugary soda to a diet soda. For some people, that might mean they're going to add a fruit at breakfast or make sure they always get a vegetable at dinner.”

When it comes to regular sugar-sweetened soda like Coca-Cola Classic, Pepsi, Dr. Pepper, or Mountain Dew, Valente said a 'diet' version or 'sugar-free' version still makes for a better choice.

"If a can a day sounds like it would be cutting way back for you, then it might be time to start thinking about limiting. Diet soda, especially compared to some of those other dietary risk factors for heart disease or for AFib, like having hypertension or having diabetes, is going to be a better choice," she said.

Suter and Valente think there's still a lot of unknown about the health impacts of diet soda or zero sugar beverages. This study is potentially the first of a long line of studies to find if there's a direct link to causation from artificially sweetened beverages to heart problems.

"We also have lots of research that points to no adverse health outcomes from drinking diet beverages. And so this is just sort of this study makes me think we need to learn more," said Valente.