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A long-term study with half a million participants shows the dangers of diet drinks. Life expectancy decreases by up to 15 percent.
Highly processed foods such as frozen pizza, bacon, and sausages are extremely harmful to health. According to US researchers, highly processed meat and soft drinks are the most dangerous.
This also includes light and zero drinks. They contain artificial sweeteners such as aspartame, acesulfame potassium, stevia, and other additives that are not found in whole foods.
For a previously unpublished long-term study, researchers at the National Cancer Institute in the US state of Maryland tracked the lives of 500,000 people over three decades. They linked the nutritional data with mortality rates over the next 20 to 30 years.
Diet soft drinks contributed the most to the consumption of ultra-processed foods. Sugary soft drinks were in second place.
This increases the risk of heart disease, diabetes, dementia, and strokes. Life expectancy can be shortened by up to 15 percent. Even people of normal weight are at risk, as the authors of the study told CNN.
The people who studied consumed excessively processed drinks the most. Monika Schmid, head nutritionist at Oviva Switzerland, advises a maximum of five deciliters of sweetened drinks per day.
She advises completely avoiding calorie-free drinks with sweeteners. In addition to the increased risk of death, they could even lead to weight gain and obesity. This is because sweeteners can increase appetite.
The sweetener aspartame could also suppress the activity of the intestinal enzyme, which promotes fat formation. The sweetener saccharin could inhibit the breakdown of fat. However, it is still unclear whether drinks with sweeteners make you fatter than those without sugar.
Schmid recommends natural alternatives such as tea, coffee, or water flavored with lemon and unprocessed foods such as fruit, vegetables, and, depending on your diet, some meat or fish once a week.
- source: heute.at/picture: Bild von Ernesto Rodriguez auf Pixabay
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