Consumption of high levels of sugar and salt may lead to sodium retention in the kidneys, and an increased level of fluid in the body, which could lead to higher blood pressure, according to researchers who identified high-sugar drinks as a health risk.
OREGON: Sugary drinks may cause higher blood pressure, especially if your sodium consumption is also high, according to a new report which has shown the link between high sugar and salt diets to blood vessel damage.
“We found the same association in healthy men and women eating and drinking according to their normal habits,” said Ian Brown, a research associate at Imperial College London. “We were able to take advantage of very high quality dietary data combined with 24-hour urine collections, which are the gold standard for estimating sodium intake in population studies.”
Stronger results in people consuming sodium
For every extra sugar-sweetened beverage consumed, participants’ systolic blood pressure increased by 1.6 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg) and diastolic blood pressure increased by 0.8 mm Hg.
People who consumed high amounts of both sugar and sodium had even higher blood pressure levels, according to the study published in Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association.
“The novel aspect of our research is the apparent ‘interaction’ with sodium intake, whereby direct associations of sugars and sugar-sweetened beverages with blood pressure are stronger in individuals who also consume more sodium,” Brown said.
Linking blood pressure to sweetened diet
In the International Study of Macro/Micronutrients and Blood Pressure (INTERMAP), 2,696 participants, 40- to 59-years-old, in eight areas of the U.S. and two areas of the U.K., reported what they ate and drank for four days.
Researchers conducted in-depth interviews and participants underwent two 24-hour urine collections, eight blood pressure readings, and completed a questionnaire.
What researchers found was that participants who consumed more than one sugar-sweetened beverage daily had higher blood pressure levels, with the main culprits appearing to be glucose, fructose, and sucrose.
“A similar finding has been reported in animal studies but to the best of our knowledge, never before in humans,” Brown said. “More work is needed to replicate this finding, and to understand the possible mechanisms behind it.”
Salt causes pressure to worsen
Added Joel Fuhrman, a physician and founder of the Centre for Nutritional Medicine in Flemington, New Jersey, “When we consume processed foods, and sweets, (calories empty of micronutrients) it creates an inflammatory cascade, aging our cells and creating blood vessel disease.”
Fuhrman went on to explain that the rush of sugar into the bloodstream after consuming a sugared beverage causes an insulin spike. Higher insulin levels accelerate atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) and promote weight gain, he said.
Salt can make the problem worse by swelling the intravascular space and keeping blood vessel fluid volume elevated, which puts increased pressure on the walls of the blood vessels.
“The blood vessels respond to the increased volume and pressure by thickening their walls and narrowing and the heart responds by enlarging and pumping harder against more resistance,” Fuhrman said. “In the past, people thought just salt and saturated fat were the culprit[s], now we know any type of ‘junk’ food is damaging to the vessels as well. Ultimately our health and lifespan is linked to the quality of food we put in our mouth.”
