Thought id post this new study. It’s something a lot of us believe. Over 10 years 200,000 people . I was surprised to see artificial sweeteners in there as a possible cause. The population at baseline did not show symptoms of having AF. I used to drink a lot of sports drinks to avoid dehydrating during exercise but now it’s lemon water or coconut water for me. The study was in the UK and commented on in this article
Long term study… sugars and artificia... - Atrial Fibrillati...
Long term study… sugars and artificial sweeteners increase risk of AF
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OzJames
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“..... the work is a long way from proving drinking artificial sweetened drinks ‘cause’ atrial fibrillation. Even though the authors tried to adjust for many factors, there is a strong chance that other behavioural aspects linked to drink behaviour could be more relevant as a cause of AF rather than the drinks themselves."
Yes I get that as we don’t know how many other variables there are to bring on AF. It needs a more controlled trial. At the end of the day I reduce my sugar consumption other than fresh whole fruit and the occasional treat like a Portuguese tart
Yes I read something similar this week in the Good Health Naturally newsletter.
We are not in a position to know which ingredients are the guilty ones or these days trust most financed research. What we do know is artificial sweeteners are not natural, so use AF as a driver to kick the habit without jumping from the frying pan into the fire.
We don't know the guilty ones but we know they're not natural???
"Not natural' = not what your healthy granny eat 😁.
My "healthy granny" ate refined sugar and lots of it.
For those of us over 70 our grandmothers often baked their own cakes . A woman's baking skills were a source of pride. They also walked a lot as most did not have cars and often did not have labour saving devices which meant housework required more energy expenditure. My own grandmother never owned a washing machine due to a stupid prejudice on the part of my grandfather who maintained they did not get clothes clean. She had to use an old fashioned mangle to get the water out of sheets - boy was that hard work.
I'm only 62 and my grandmothers often baked their own cakes and fruit pies too.....and generally they used sugar in the mixture, in the filling (directly or indirectly) and in the icing. There's a reason why we called desserts, sweets!
Whether they burned it off or not is not the issue. It's about what my "healthy granny" ate. They probably didn't eat much in the way of artificial sweeteners (except late in life) but they certainly ate more sugar than what I would consider healthy. YMMV.
But was your granny healthy? My paternal grandmother lived to 98 but was a creaking gate for a good part of her life. Though I think she was actually a hypochondriac who loved other people dancing attendance on her. She loved getting a visit from the doctor ( in the days when doctors made house calls).
My maternal grandmother lived to 89. A lovely woman who I loved dearly but I don't picture her as a "healthy granny". She died from heart failure but don't know whether genetic or lifestyle. One of her sisters lived to 102 and another well into her 90's.
My paternal grandmother had rheumatic fever as a child, had heart problems all her life and I believe she was one of the first people in Australia to be fitted with a pacemaker. To me she was always frail but it probably had very little to do with her diet.
Anyway, this exchange started because someone commented ""Not natural' = not what your healthy granny eat". The implication in my mind was our grandparents ate healthy because they lived before artificial sweeteners (AS) and I assume, highly processed and mass produced foods. Yes, most of their lives occurred prior to their prevalence and a lot of the foods available in those days were probably more wholesome. However, they didn't live before refined white sugar, which they used a lot in their cooking. I believe excess sugar intake is far worse for you than AS. I'm not an advocate for AS but if I have to choose between sugary foods or foods sweetened with AS, I'll choose the latter. I should add my sister has type 2 diabetes - so I am wary of added sugar in my food.
I don't think it's just artificial sweeteners. It's the whole gamut of chemicals that are put into food these days. I am sure that a slice of a home baked cake made with butter and not marge every so often does not harm you nearly as much as eating ready meals , crisps and industrially produced baked goods on a daiky basis. If you make your own cakes it is possible to reduce the sugar in the recipe without any loss of quality- even my husband who has a very sweet tooth thinks my cakes are good and I always reduce the sugar. Our grandparents did eat more healthily because they cooked from scratch - maybe not in America where industrialised food has been available for far longer. Here in France there is far less in the way of "ready meals" available in supermarkets though it is growing. As a result obesity is rising . But first class patisseries have been part of French life for decades long before obesity started to rise from very low levels . Their cakes are regarded as a treat for Sundays or special occasions not every day consumption. Artificial sweeteners and other chemical additives have been shown to disrupt the microbiome and research is only just beginning to show how important that is to ouroverall health.
I live in Australia and the following extract is from a paper titled
"A natural part of life: the Australian sugar industry's campaign to reverse declining Australian sugar consumption, 1980-1995"
"Apparent annual sugar consumption of sugar by Australians hovered around 55 kilograms per capita for the period 1900-1980. Such high levels of sugar consumption made Australians amongst the world's top ten consumers of sugar."
My grandparents were born ~1910. Clearly my grandparents generation consumed a lot of sugar. Yes, they would have eaten more wholesome foods but that much sugar is not healthy by any standards
That does seem an enormous amount. More than a kilo a week! Umpteen cups of tea or coffee a day with lots of sugar? Puddings galore!
Yes, it sounds very high but when you start to break it down........
A 370ml can of Coke a day would give you a quarter of a kilo of sugar a week alone.
I have little doubt I would have dragged up the average sugar consumption when I was a teenager! Back in those days I was very active and would burn it off without a problem - never had an ounce of fat.
Obviously my grandparents didn't eat like that but they had a sweet tooth and they definitely drank sugary soft drinks and often ate cakes and desserts (sweets).
Agreed I try to skip anything with artificial sweeteners stick to whole fruit etc.. and the occasional treat!
The study clearly also considered sugar to be as bad as artificial sweeteners, so anything sweet basically,except for pure fruit juice. That said the article in your link to tears the original paper apart, they are almost dismissive.
Yes I thought that too… I never add real or non real sugar to anything anyway. I know it’s hidden in certain things and that’s harder to control
Sugar and/or artificial sweeteners are in most highly processed foods and drinks. In some cases its naturally occurring sugar in the food or drink but in a lot of cases it's added sugar and/or artificial sweeteners. Just look at the ingredients and nutrition information on the packaging of food you are considering buying or stuff you've already in your pantry. If you haven't done it before, you'll be surprised by what you'll find.
I am on a Keto/Atkins diet, the only way I can maintain weight, so I use a lot of artificial sweeteners. Very occasional AF and goes away quickly. The study was interesting but not of great concern in its conclusions.
aspartame and sucralose both cause my heart to go crazy. I avoid them as even accidentally chewing gum with aspartame causes my heart trouble. I read labels carefully to avoid these 2 ingredients. Sugar does not bother me as long as it is not in excess. And then only mild, short term problems. My sister gave me a piece of gum once and it literally ruined my whole day. Heart was nuts for hours on end. I looked up the ingredients and aspartame was there.
I actually started having SVT early in 2013, I am positive it was due to drinking a daily morning drink that contained sucralose. Now I drink the same drink mix but the company makes an alternatively sweetened version with stevia. I have no problems with this version. I never had any heart issues until the daily sucralose destroyed my heart rhythm.
Fortunately, I figured this trigger out early and my only other trigger is gluten/wheat.
I am pretty sure my AF is caused by dehydration, salt, and or Tyramine.
I drink daily Diet Soda (now caffeine free), My last AF was 3 months ago. I tried drinking Powerade for dehydration but I now believe that the quantity of salt in it was sending me into AF once a month (although it also has artificial sweeteners). I drink a glass of orange juice in the morning as well as milk. The OJ has a ton of sugar.
Good or bad I have been drinking soda/diet soda for 36 years? AF showed up 2 years ago, dehydrated from 108 degree weather, maybe some stress.
Now in normal BMI, no other health issues, CT calcium zero, no diabetes. So for me I don't know.
Who knows it could be a combo of a few elements that kicks off AF I too have dehydration as one of my triggers I drink either lemon water or coconut water to help
I’m sure it’s combination of things, and that working in 108 degree heat damaged my heart. I thought I was working out. I would lose 3-5lbs of water weight
I’m a firm believer in natural is best. I’m ok with adding some sugar to things but I’m wary of packaged items with their corn syrup and artificial sweeteners in them. I just don’t buy them. My personal theory is that the additives, including sugar and salt, and chemicals and the amount of food we consume is behind a lot of modern health issues.
Frankly, I am not surprised about the artificial sweeteners. They give me terrible ectopics. I avoid them at all costs.
Have you read the article? None of the expert comments appear to be supportive of the study's findings. On the contrary, 2 of the 4 experts said they would either continue drinking low calorie artificially sweetened drinks instead of sugar sweetened drinks or said it remained good dietary advice to do so.If you have read it, you should read it again as all of the expert opinions are questioning the study's findings.
It matters not what anyone, 'expert' or otherwise, says about sweeteners being a trigger for arrythmia sufferers, Madscientist knows they are - and so do I. If I ingest anything containing them, I pay for it a few hours later with a drum solo in my chest. This is a very well-documented subject on this forum, very much agreed on by many of the regular contributors and beyond doubt as far as I'm concerned.
Mugsy15 - I don't believe they are claiming artificial sweeteners (AS) are a potential trigger for AF. The way I read the comments, the study concludes consuming artificial sweeteners increases the risk of getting AF i.e. artificial sweeteners are a potential cause of AF. I looked for a copy of the study in an attempt to confirm my belief but yet to find one I can access, so I might be wrong. I will continue to look.
How do others read the article - is it about AS being a possible trigger or about AS being a risk factor (possible cause) for getting AF?
From the article:Prof Naveed Sattar, Professor of Metabolic Medicine, University of Glasgow, said:
“This is interesting but as the authors say, the work is a long way from proving drinking artificial sweetened drinks ‘cause’ atrial fibrillation.
So yes I would say the study claims artificial sweeteners are a cause, although the terminology used is a bit ambiguous and can be read both ways.
It is not good dietary advice to drink these drinks. Good dietary advice is to stick to water.
Do you ever drink soft drinks?
No. I drink nothing but mineral water , vegetable juice at breakfast and a small glass of wine with my main meal of the day. Occasionally I will have tea or ginger tea which I sweeten with our own honey . I do not like the taste of sodas . Orangina is ok but it has sugar in it. Wasted calories.
Actually yes, I did read the article and the study. I am a real scientist after all, not just a cute online name. I have worked in biotechnology for over 35 years. All scientific studies should be scrutinized. However, as a 57-year-old women who lives with AF that was diagnosed almost 6 years ago, I know what triggers me and artificial sweeteners also triggers others, so there is commonality. Doctors have/had no clue as to why I developed AF because I am an otherwise very healthy and active person. Before my AF diagnosis, I drank a lot of Diet Coke. Will I ever be able to PROVE that this caused my AF? No, I can't. But it makes sense because of my experience, and I am sure it will also ring true for many others on this forum. Shout out to Mugsy15 for defending our position!
"Shout out to Mugsy15 for defending our position!"
I wasn't questioning what triggers your AF or anyone else's.
I commented because posts were seemingly using the article as "support" for AS being a trigger when from my reading:
- the article appeared to be about AS as a cause rather than a trigger; and
- none of the expert opinions appear to be supportive of the study's findings (of AS being a potential cause).
That's why I asked whether you had read the article.
Please, just stop.
Yes I read it the same. But Madscientist stated that sweeteners are a trigger; she didn't claim them as a cause, and neither do I, although I have an open mind on whether they may be a contributory causation factor as opposed to a primary cause.
Have to say I'm constantly amazed at the number of adults who say on here that they drink fizzy sweet drinks, especially those who say they do it to hydrate!
If a Cardiologist wanted me to deliberately trigger horrendous arrythmia so they could monitor my heart, I'd drink Diet Coke, Gatorade or something similarly disgusting.
'Hydra' means water. To 'hydrate' is to add water. Yes, I know that dehydration from sweating and/or diarrhoea can cause loss of minerals which ideally should also be replaced, and to that end coconut water or milk are thought to be ideal.
But one thing I'm clear on - fizzy pop, including those claiming to be health or energy drinks (they're nothing of the sort) is basically poison to many arrythmia sufferers.
In addition, filling one's gut with gas is not advisable, as this is another well-documented trigger for arrythmia.
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