High blood pressure is often thought of as a problem that mainly affects older adults. However, doctors are increasingly seeing high blood pressure in younger adults, teenagers, and even children.
This is concerning because high blood pressure can quietly damage the body for years before symptoms appear. Over time, it can increase the risk of heart attacks, strokes, heart failure, and kidney disease.
While some risk factors for high blood pressure, such as age and family history, cannot be changed, lifestyle habits can make a big difference. Diet is one of the most important factors.
Scientists have long known that drinking sugary beverages is linked to weight gain and poor heart health. However, less is known about how beverage choices early in life affect blood pressure many years later.
A new study published in Circulation, the flagship journal of the American Heart Association, suggests that drinking sugary beverages and large amounts of fruit juice from childhood through adulthood may increase the risk of developing high blood pressure later in life.
The research was led by Dr. Vasanti Malik, an associate professor at the University of Toronto and an adjunct faculty member at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
The researchers analyzed information from more than 25,000 participants in a long-running study of young people in the United States. Participants regularly completed questionnaires every one to four years.
They reported how often they drank sugary beverages, fruit juice, and ate whole fruit. They also provided information about their diet, physical activity, smoking habits, and body measurements.
The scientists followed participants for as long as 25 years. This allowed them to examine how dietary habits in childhood and adolescence might influence health in adulthood.
The results showed a clear pattern. Participants who drank two or more servings of sugary beverages each day had a 52 percent higher risk of developing high blood pressure compared with those who drank fewer than three servings each week.
Certain beverages were associated with even greater risks. Each daily serving of soda was linked to a 23 percent higher risk of high blood pressure. Every daily serving of sports drinks was associated with a 36 percent higher risk.
The findings regarding fruit juice were also surprising. People who drank one and a half servings or more of fruit juice each day had a 35 percent higher risk of developing high blood pressure compared with those who rarely drank fruit juice.
When researchers looked at different kinds of fruit juice, they found that each daily serving of orange juice was linked to a 20 percent higher risk of high blood pressure. However, the researchers noted that some people may have accidentally reported sweetened orange-flavored drinks as orange juice, which could have influenced the results.
The study also found encouraging news. Replacing one daily serving of sugary beverages with whole fruit was associated with a 22 percent lower risk of developing high blood pressure. Replacing fruit juice with whole fruit was linked to a 19 percent lower risk.
Replacing sugary drinks with water or milk was also associated with up to a 13 percent lower risk.
One important finding was that these associations remained even after researchers considered overall diet quality, physical activity, and other lifestyle factors. This suggests that the type of beverage itself may play an independent role in blood pressure risk.
Scientists believe whole fruit may be healthier because it contains fiber. Fiber slows the absorption of natural sugars and helps people feel full. Fruit juice, even when it is 100 percent juice, contains concentrated sugar and lacks much of the fiber found in whole fruit.
The findings do not prove that sugary beverages or fruit juice directly cause high blood pressure. However, they add to growing evidence that beverage choices during childhood and adolescence may have lasting effects on heart health.
The study’s findings suggest that healthy habits should begin early in life. Whole fruits appear to be a better choice than sugary drinks and large amounts of fruit juice.
Although moderate amounts of 100 percent fruit juice may still fit into a healthy diet, the research indicates that drinking it in large quantities may not be as harmless as many people assume. Early dietary choices may help shape cardiovascular health for decades to come.
If you care about blood pressure, please read studies that black licorice could cause dangerous high blood pressure, and this common plant nutrient could help reduce high blood pressure.
For more information about blood pressure, please see recent studies about how coffee influence your risk of high blood pressure, and results showing this olive oil could reduce blood pressure in healthy people.
Source: University of Toronto.
