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Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text. Background: Whether consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) or artificially sweetened beverages (ASBs) is associated with risk of mortality is of public health interest. Methods: We examined associations between consumption of SSBs and ASBs with risk of total and cause-specific mortality among 37 716 men from the Health Professional's Follow-up study (from 1986 to 2014) and 80 647 women from the Nurses' Health study (from 1980 to 2014) who were free from chronic diseases at baseline. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to estimate hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals. Results: We documented 36 436 deaths (7896 cardiovascular disease [CVD] and 12 380 cancer deaths) during 3 415 564 person-years of follow-up. After adjusting for major diet and lifestyle factors, consumption of SSBs was associated with a higher risk of total mortality; pooled hazard ratios (95% confidence intervals) across categories (<1/mo, 1–4/mo, 2–6/week, 1-<2/d, and ≥2/d) were 1.00 (reference), 1.01 (0.98, 1.04), 1.06 (1.03, 1.09), 1.14 (1.09, 1.19), and 1.21 (1.13, 1.28; P trend <0.0001). The association was observed for CVD mortality (hazard ratio comparing extreme categories was 1.31 [95% confidence interval, 1.15, 1.50], P trend <0.0001) and cancer mortality (1.16 [1.04, 1.29], P trend =0.0004). ASBs were associated with total and CVD mortality in the highest intake category only; pooled hazard ratios (95% confidence interval) across categories were 1.00 (reference), 0.96 (0.93, 0.99), 0.97 (0.95, 1.00), 0.98 (0.94, 1.03), and 1.04 (1.02, 1.12; P trend = 0.01) for total mortality and 1.00 (reference), 0.93 (0.87, 1.00), 0.95 (0.89, 1.00), 1.02 (0.94, 1.12), and 1.13 (1.02, 1.25; P trend = 0.02) for CVD mortality. In cohort-specific analysis, ASBs were associated with mortality in NHS (Nurses' Health Study) but not in HPFS (Health Professionals Follow-up Study) (P interaction, 0.01). ASBs were not associated with cancer mortality in either cohort. Conclusions: Consumption of SSBs was positively associated with mortality primarily through CVD mortality and showed a graded association with dose. The positive association between high intake levels of ASBs and total and CVD mortality observed among women requires further confirmation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background--Circulating very-long-chain saturated fatty acids (VLCSFAs) may play an active role in the origin of cardiometabolic diseases. Methods and Results--We measured 3 VLCSFAs (C20:0, C22:0, and C24:0) in plasma and erythrocytes using gasliquid chromatography among 794 incident coronary heart disease (CHD) cases who were prospectively identified and confirmed among women in the Nurses' Health Study (NHS; 1990-2006) and among men in the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study (HPFS; 1994-2008). A total of 1233 CHD-free controls were randomly selected and matched to cases in these 2 cohorts. Conditional logistic regression was used to estimate hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals. Plasma VLCSFAs were correlated with favorable profiles of blood lipids, C-reactive protein, and adiponectin in the NHS and HPFS and with fasting insulin and C-peptide levels in a nationally representative US comparison population. After multivariate adjustment for lifestyle factors, body mass index, diet, and long-chain n-3 and trans fatty acids, total VLCSFAs in plasma were associated with a 52% decreased risk of CHD (pooled hazard ratio, 0.48; 95% confidence interval, 0.32-0.72, comparing extreme quintiles; Ptrend<0.0001). For VLCSFAs in erythrocytes, a nonsignificant inverse trend with CHD risk was observed (pooled hazard ratio, 0.66; 95% confidence interval, 0.41-1.06, comparing extreme quintiles; Ptrend=0.16). Conclusions--In US men and women, plasma VLCSFAs were independently associated with favorable profiles of blood lipids and other cardiovascular disease risk markers and a lower risk of CHD. Erythrocyte VLCSFAs were associated with nonsignificant trends of lower CHD risk. Future studies are warranted to elucidate the underlying biological mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background--Sugar-sweetened beverage consumption is associated with weight gain and risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Few studies have tested for a relationship with coronary heart disease (CHD) or intermediate biomarkers. The role of artificially sweetened beverages is also unclear. Methods and Results--We performed an analysis of the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study, a prospective cohort study including 42 883 men. Associations of cumulatively averaged sugar-sweetened (eg, sodas) and artificially sweetened (eg, diet sodas) beverage intake with incident fatal and nonfatal CHD (myocardial infarction) were examined with proportional hazard models. There were 3683 CHD cases over 22 years of follow-up. Participants in the top quartile of sugar-sweetened beverage intake had a 20% higher relative risk of CHD than those in the bottom quartile (relative risk= 1.20; 95% confidence interval, 1.09-1.33; P for trend <0.01) after adjustment for age, smoking, physical activity, alcohol, multivitamins, family history, diet quality, energy intake, body mass index, pre-enrollment weight change, and dieting. Artificially sweetened beverage consumption was not significantly associated with CHD (multivariate relative risk= 1.02; 95% confidence interval, 0.93-1.12; P for trend=0.28). Adjustment for self-reported high cholesterol, high triglycerides, high blood pressure, and diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus slightly attenuated these associations. Intake of sugar-sweetened but not artificially sweetened beverages was significantly associated with increased plasma triglycerides, C-reactive protein, interleukin-6, and tumor necrosis factor receptors 1 and 2 and decreased high-density lipoprotein, lipoprotein(a), and leptin (P<0.02). Conclusions--Consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages was associated with increased risk of CHD and some adverse changes in lipids, inflammatory factors, and leptin. Artificially sweetened beverage intake was not associated with CHD risk or biomarkers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the article, the author discusses a study on the role of fast food in causing obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus in Asian countries. It mentions that Chinese Singaporeans who eat western-style fast foods more than twice a week had a 27 percent increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus and a 56 percent increased risk of dying from coronary heart disease. It also informs that rapidly expanding epidemic of cardio-metabolic diseases global public health policies are needed.

Background: Sugar sweetened beverages (SSBs) are the single largest source of calories and added sugars in the US diet and regular consumption has been associated with weight gain and risk of chronic diseases. Artificially sweetened beverages (ASBs) are often suggested as alternatives to SSB but little is known about their long-term health effects. Whether consumption of SSBs or ASBs is associated with risk of mortality is unknown. Methods: We prospectively followed 38,602 men from the Health Professional's Follow-up study (1986-2010) and 82,592 women from the Nurses' Health study (1980-2010) who were free from cardiovascular disease (CVD) and cancer at baseline. Diet was assessed using validated food frequency questionnaires every 4 years and Cox Proportional Hazards regression was used to estimate hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). Results: We documented 27,691 deaths (6,631 CVD and 10,447 cancer deaths) during 3.14 million person-years. After adjusting for major dietary and lifestyle risk factors, and BMI, baseline diabetes, hypertension and hypercholesterolemia, consumption of SSBs was associated with an increased risk of total mortality, which was mainly driven by CVD mortality among individuals consuming at least 2 servings per day; pooled HRs (95% CIs) across categories (<1/month, 1-4/month, 2-6/week, 1-<2/day and ὅ2/day) were 1.00, 0.95 (0.91, 0.98), 0.96 (0.93, 0.99), 1.02 (0.96, 1.08), and 1.18 (1.04, 1.33), respectively (P-trend= 0.0001) for total mortality, and 1.00, 0.97 (0.90, 1.02), 0.96 (0.90, 1.02), 1.04 (0.93, 1.16) and 1.28 (1.09, 1.51), respectively (P-trend=0.007) for CVD mortality. In contrast, ASBs were not associated with mortality; pooled HR's (95% CIs) across categories (<1/month, 1-4/month, 2-6/week, 1-<2/day and =2/day) were 1.00, 0.92 (0.89, 0.95), 0.91 (0.86, 0.97), 0.91 (0.86, 0.95) and 0.99 (0.85, 1.15), respectively (P-trend=0.50) for total mortality and 1.00, 0.86 (0.80, 0.92), 0.87 (0.81, 0.94), 0.96 (0.88, 1.06) and 0.96 (0.74, 1.25), respectively (P-trend=0.99) for CVD mortality. No associations were observed with cancer mortality for either SSBs or ASBs in multivariable adjusted models. Conclusion: Regular consumption of SSBs is associated with an increased risk of total and CVD mortality, providing additional support for recommendations and policies to limit intake of these beverages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]