Five Foods That Hurt Your Heart

Avoid these to live longer

By Elaine Magee, MPH, RD
Comments >
Table of Contents

How Sweet Is Your Drink?

What you drink may hurt your heart, according to results from the Nurses’ Health Study, which followed over 88,000 women for 24 years. This shouldn’t surprise anyone, considering that earlier studies linked sweetened beverages with a high risk of weight gain and type 2 diabetes. Think before you drink because regular consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages was associated with a higher risk of coronary heart disease in women, even after the researchers accounted for other unhealthful lifestyle or dietary factors.

Not that I would recommend consuming large amounts of “diet” drinks, but artificially sweetened beverages—at least in this study—were not associated with coronary heart disease. 

In an earlier study, even one soda per day increased the risk of developing metabolic syndrome by about 50%. Developing metabolic syndrome (a condition that includes three of the following: a large waist, elevated blood pressure, elevated fasting blood sugar, elevated fasting triglycerides, or reduced HDL or “good” cholesterol) in turn increases the chance of developing both heart disease and diabetes. This is a scary thought considering soft drink sales have been soaring in the United States and worldwide. 

Obviously, heart disease is a complex disease involving many risk factors, and drinking soda is just one of many lifestyle choices people make on a daily basis; however, there was still a link between soft drink intake and metabolic risk factors after the researchers adjusted for intake of fat, fiber, total calories, smoking, and physical activity.

Some experts say there isn’t enough evidence to point the finger at soda, but I think we can all agree sweetened caloric drinks in general aren’t helping to decrease the risk of heart disease, obesity or type 2 diabetes. The American Beverage Association believes that soft drinks can be part of a healthy way of life “when consumed in moderation and as part of a balanced lifestyle,” but that’s just it—most Americans are consuming soda in anything but moderate amounts. 


Five Foods That Hurt Your Heart continues...
Introduction 
< 1 2 3 4 5  >
Who Should Avoid Energy Drinks? 

Keywords -

Related Links

Five Foods That Help Your Heart
In this article, to give you a better idea of what comprises a heart-healthy diet, I’ll introduce five foods that help your heart. In my next article, to be published in about two weeks, we’ll cover five foods that seem to hurt your heart.

Make Eating a Healthy Breakfast a Priority
I know it’s tempting to skip breakfast when you’re in a hurry, but that’s definitely the wrong thing to do if you care about your health. What we eat for breakfast helps fuel our day’s activities—and new research suggests that if we eat a balanced breakfast, we are less likely to gain weight over a five-year period.

All Taste Buds Are Not Created Equal
I always knew food was a personal thing, but I had no idea how personal. For the life of me, I couldn’t imagine how anyone could like a few of the fat-free products I’ve sampled over the years.

Sodium Shock
When you hear the latest statistics and recommendations for sodium and hypertension, you are likely to go into sodium shock! Most Americans consume more than double the amount of sodium recommended.

Restaurant Rules to Eat By
The days of dining in restaurants only for special occasions are over. Today, for many people, eating out is an almost daily occurrence. Here’s the problem. . . .


What We Do
Silver Planet® helps baby boomers guide their parents to age in place by providing services and products related to aging at home and housing options.