Men who love soda at higher risk for heart attack, say Harvard scientists (USA)

Experts have some not-so-sweet news for men who drink sodas and sugary drinks. Downing just one sugary beverage a day can up your heart attack risk by 20%, according to research published by Harvard scientists in the journal Circulation. The more soda or noncarbonated fruity drinks, the higher your risk. Two servings ups your heart risk by 42%. Drink a soda with all three meals? Your risk increases by 69%. The team of Harvard researchers found a strong correlation between sugary drinks and heart attack risk that held up even after factoring in smoking, physical activity, alcohol, family history and BMI. Volunteers who kicked their soda and sweet-drink habits experienced lower blood pressure. While this study didn't take diet soda into account, recent studies have linked artificially sweetened drinks to increased stroke and heart attack risk. While this research focused on men, researchers say, sweet drinks aren't good for women either. It's a problem that can easily be solved if people just stopped sipping the high calorie beverages and paid more attention to what they're imbibing, according to lead study author, Lawrence de Koning, a research fellow in the department of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health. "The first thing to do is to reduce the intake of sodas and then eventually eliminate them," he said