To Your Health
March, 2011 (Vol. 05, Issue 03) |
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Don't Drink and Deliver
By Editorial Staff
Don't drink alcohol while pregnant - check. Don't drink artificially sweetened soft drinks while pregnant - check? The pregnancy checklist may have just gotten a little longer courtesy of a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
According to the study, expectant women who drink one or more artificially sweetened
soft drinks per day have a 38 percent greater risk of preterm delivery compared to women who consume no artificially sweetened soft drinks during pregnancy. Risk of preterm delivery is 78 percent higher in women who consume four or more drinks daily versus none.
This was no small study: 59,334 women served as participants, and results applied to women who consumed carbonated and noncarbonated soft drinks containing artificial sweeteners. Moreover, no relationship was noted between soft-drink consumption and increased risk of preterm delivery in women who consumed sugar-sweetened soft drinks (either carbonated or noncarbonated).
Your doctor can tell you more about these particular findings and the potential health issues associated with artificial sweeteners, excess sugar and soft drinks in general.
