Sugar- or artificially-sweetened beverage consumption, physical activity, and risk of cardiovascular disease in US adults
Authors: Pacheco Lorena S. , Tobias Deirdre K. , Li Yanping , Bhupathiraju Shilpa N. , Willett Walter C. , Ludwig David S. , Ebbeling Cara B. , Haslam Danielle E. , Drouin-Chartier Jean-Philippe , Hu Frank B. , Guasch-Ferré Marta 
Published: April 2023

Background

The extent to which physical activity attenuates the detrimental effects of sugar (SSBs)- or artificially-sweetened beverages (ASBs) on the risk of cardiovascular disease is unknown.

Methods

We used Cox proportional-hazards models to calculate hazard ratios and 95% confidence interval [HR (CI)] between SSB or ASB intake and physical activity with cardiovascular disease risk among 65,730 women in the Nurses’ Health Study (1980-2016) and 39,418 men in the Health Professional’s Follow-up Study (1986-2016), who were free from chronic diseases at baseline. SSBs and ASBs were assessed every 4-years and physical activity biannually.

Results

A total of 13,269 cardiovascular events were ascertained during 3,001,213 person-years of follow-up. Compared with those that never/rarely consumed SSBs or ASBs, HR and 95% CI for cardiovascular disease for participants consuming ≥2 servings/day were 1.21 (95% CI,1.12 to 1.32;P-trend<0.001) and 1.03 (95% CI, 0.97 to 1.09;P-trend=0.06), respectively. In the joint analyses, for participants meeting and not meeting physical activity guidelines (<7.5 vs ≥7.5 MET-h/week) as well as consuming ≥2 servings/day of SSBs or ASBs, the HRs for cardiovascular disease were 1.15 (95% CI, 1.08 to 1.23) and 0.96 (95% CI, 0.91 to 1.02), and 1.47 (95% CI, 1.37 to 1.57) and 1.29 (95% CI, 1.22 to 1.37) respectively, compared with participants who met physical activity guidelines and never/rarely consumed these beverages. Similar patterns were observed when coronary heart disease and stroke were analyzed.

Conclusions

Our findings suggest that among physically active participants, higher SSB intake, but not ASBs, is associated with a higher cardiovascular risk. Our results support current recommendations to limit the intake of SSB and maintain adequate physical activity levels.

Clinical Perspective

What is new?

Consumption of sugar- or artificially-sweetened beverages and physical activity are independently associated with cardiovascular disease; nevertheless, the role that physical activity plays in the associations between sugar- and artificially-sweetened beverages consumption and cardiovascular disease warrants further analysis since physical activity could offset the health risk that would have been induced by their consumption.

In two US cohorts, not meeting physical activity guidelines jointly with a greater intake of sugar- or artificially-sweetened beverages was associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease; however, even when individuals were physically active, higher consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages was associated with a higher cardiovascular risk.

What are the clinical implications?

Our results provide further evidence of the intake of sugar-sweetened beverages and low physical activity as factors negatively impacting cardiovascular health.

Our results support public health recommendations and policies to limit the intake of sugar-sweetened beverages and meet and maintain adequate physical activity levels.