Sweetened drinks linked to atrial fibrillation risk

[Carew]

Many, many years ago, I used to occasionally have a gin and tonic or angostura and tonic (if driving). And became convinced that, if the tonic contained saccharin, I would likely end up having a relatively high heart rate. But this was long before I had any idea about afib.

As I hate the taste of saccharin, I tried to avoid it, but sometimes made a mistake. (E.g. didn't check the make.)

And now, well a few months ago...

Sweetened drinks linked to atrial fibrillation risk

Drinking sugar- or artificially sweetened beverages was associated with increased risk of irregular heart rhythms, finds a study in Circulation: Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology

An analysis of health data in the UK Biobank found a 20% higher risk of irregular heart rhythm, known as atrial fibrillation, among people who said they drank two liters or more per week (about 67 ounces) of artificially sweetened drinks. The risk was 10% higher among people who said they drank similar amounts of sugar-sweetened beverages.

Drinking one liter (about 34 ounces) or less of pure juice per week, such as 100% orange or vegetable juice, was associated with an 8% lower risk of atrial fibrillation.

The observational study could not confirm that sweetened drinks cause irregular heart rhythms.

newsroom.heart.org/news/swe...

I know there have been a few mentions of something similar over the years.

And 67 ounces is a quantity that I can't even imagine drinking in a month!

[Omniscient1]

A lot of people fasten on to the comment about artificial sweeteners from this paper, which appeared a while ago, but the lesson is any added sweetener including sugar, so the best way to avoid this is to just leave out sweet drinks full stop.

[Carew in reply to Omniscient1]

These days, I almost never drink any of them. With sugar or artificial sweeteners. By which I mean, usually many months between, if not years.

[Ppiman]

I have been told that this might be caused by the distension from drinking large quantities of fizzy drink, rather than artificial sweeteners. I gather distension can set of ectopic beats by pushing the stomach against the diaphragm and into contact with the heart. These can then trigger AF in prone individuals. I was told this by a specialist many years ago and he showed it occurring to me on an X ray.

G&T is my favourite summer time drink and I have never found it leads to either ectopic beats or AF (thankfully!).

Steve

[Carew in reply to Ppiman]

If I do have one, it will definitely be without artificial sweeteners - and only a modest volume. But that physical effect is interesting.

With a larger volume, I'd also be questioning the effect of the carbon dioxide.

It was because I fancy the possibility of a G&T sometime that I was prompted to look up saccharin. It had slipped out of my memory for ages until yesterday.

[Ppiman in reply to Carew]

It's my favourite drink. If you haven't discovered it yet and fancy a change, I could recommend Chase GB Gin, which is made on a farm in Herefordshire from their own potatoes. It's the tastiest, yet freshest, gin and tonic I have ever drunk. It's currently on an amazing offer at Waitrose for £20.00 a bottle instead of £35.00.

I have always had a feeling there's no immediate chemical effects from the likes of saccharin and sweeteners, but maybe some physical effects from the fizziness or volume of the drink. A rise in heart rate, for example, can easily precipitate ectopic beats (in my case) and from there, AF sometimes follows (although there's no real rhyme or reason for the change from ectopic beats to AF).

Steve

[Carew in reply to Ppiman]

Thank you.

I'd have gone for that - except I am the best part of a hundred miles from a Waitrose - and no Ocado option (if available through them).

Ah - but similar price online! (Other supermarkets mentioned are also no use. Asda always fails their online purchases. They take the order then say they cannot supply. No Sainsbury's.)

[Ppiman in reply to Carew]

It's worth getting online at that price. Before I was given a bottle as a present, maybe eight years ago, now, I tended to prefer Beefeater (and still do like it) or Gordons (but they added a touch of water to bring the strength down, inexplicably). The GB gin really opened my eyes to what gin could taste like. It's distinctive, yet still reminiscent of those other mainstays.

I sound like I drink a lot! But, no - still too much according to the boss of the house, though!

Steve

[Carew in reply to Ppiman]

I used to choose Tanqueray (which retained its potency!)

[Ppiman in reply to Carew]

I like that, too. We have similar tastes. It is similar to Beefeater, but often pricier, I found. I bought an Adnam's gin while on holiday in Norfolk recently. I found it truly a-w-f-u-l, being far too "orangey".

Steve

[Auriculaire in reply to Ppiman]

I have had afib come on several times from eating very sweet puddings so sugar can definitely do it for me!

[Ppiman in reply to Auriculaire]

It must be so that some have these food-related effects as I read it often on here. I'd be tempted to think the sugar was in some way causing a spike in insulin in the blood, or similar, and then that causing a higher rate which sparks the AF.

Steve

[ozziebob in reply to Ppiman]

Let's hope your Chase GB retains it's unique characteristics now it has been swallowed by a large multinational conglomerate. 🤔

I just read this ... "The Herefordshire-based Chase Distillery has been bought by Diageo, which also owns brands such as Johnny Walker, Smirnoff Vodka, Captain Morgan Rum and Tanqueray. The British multinational beverage alcohol company operates in more than 180 countries and produces in more than 140 sites around the world. 24 May 2024"

[Ppiman in reply to ozziebob]

Goodness me - the original owner is now a billionaire, no doubt. It will be interesting to see what becomes of it but I doubt they dare to mess in any way with it given the sensitivity of the market.

Steve

[ozziebob in reply to Ppiman]

And yet Lagavulin and Laphroaig don't taste as good to me as they once did. I presume part of this is directly because of the larger volumes being produced and sold everywhere these days. And both these distilleries have also been "swallowed" by large multinational companies. So not so surprising then that the unique characteristics and flavours have changed in a negative way that even I (an amateur) am able to detect. Bummer.

[Ppiman in reply to ozziebob]

It’s amazing really. There are so many gins around these days. Who would have thought?

I don’t really know those two whiskys although Laphroaig has a good reputation. Whisky on ice used to be a favourite tipple and in those fair I liked Islay malts best of all as they seemed a little less fiery.

Spirits are odd things. I really like gin and whisky but even the smell of brandy and rum make me feel a touch nauseous.

Steve

[Bagrat in reply to Ppiman]

Maybe we should stick to Gin and it!!

[Ppiman in reply to Bagrat]

I've never had that but just looked up the recipe - mmmm!

Steve

[Bagrat in reply to Ppiman]

Not fizzy!!

[Fight-the-good-fight in reply to Ppiman]

Hi Steve, I have reached the conclusion that my nocturnal PAF episodes are triggered by distension: caused by eating certain foods such as onions, cruciferous vegetables, grapes etc.

Not helped by the fact I sleep on my right, which aggravates the digestive system.

Hope you are ok…

[Ppiman in reply to Fight-the-good-fight]

Yes thanks, worrying while I await the MRI results, and that my ectopic beats and AF are becoming far more common, even persistent, but it could be worse. I hold out hope that I can take flecainide and that that will work well.

Steve

[Fight-the-good-fight in reply to Ppiman]

Fingers crossed 🤞

[Auriculaire in reply to Fight-the-good-fight]

I find nocturnal afib starts far more if I am sleeping on my right side rather than my left.

[Fight-the-good-fight in reply to Auriculaire]

Interesting, I find it difficult to sleep on my left side.

I believe I have costochondritis on my left side caused by AF pummelling…

[Carew in reply to Fight-the-good-fight]

I've never been able to decide to sleep on my left-side. I can't readily settle and find it really annoying after a short while.

However, occasionally, I find myself turning to the left if I wake up. Then switch back to my right because it feels so wrong.

[Auriculaire in reply to Fight-the-good-fight]

I can fall asleep no trouble on my left side for my afternoon nap but at night I need to lie on my right side! Weird.

[Carew in reply to Auriculaire]

We are all weird!

Currently, even if I wanted to, I couldn't sleep on my left. Something is wrong and my left leg is between uncomfortable to painful all the time.

[Rosie0202 in reply to Ppiman]

Hello Steve,

I have permanent AF but it mostly doesn't cause a problem. However when my stomach becomes distended; for no particular reason, I too get very uncomfortable symptoms of AF including shortness of breath.

[Ppiman in reply to Rosie0202]

I think this is a physical effect. I suspect no doctor could explain it easily as we would likely need a scan of some kind just at the point it occurs. I find that even leaning forward at a table can set my heart off.

It's good that you have no symptoms much. I have a friend similar to you. He feels it only when he walks up an incline, when he has to stop for a breath.

Steve

[secondtry]

Pre AF diagnosis, I drank a lot of tonic then I learnt here that quinine was to be avoided as well as fizzy drinks.

[Carew in reply to secondtry]

A number of times, I was out, being the driver, stuck to soft drinks. I know that on occasion I would feel a heart rate issue after one, but not after a few quinine-containing drinks. It was checking the makes that made it clear re saccharin.

I've also had the issue with non-quinine saccharin drinks even further back.

So, for me, I am pretty sure the amounts of quinine are not significant. But, of course, the quinine might in some way potentiate the saccharin.

[jeanjeannie50]

In the early days of my AF I used to have lunch in the nursing home where I worked. Every time I had apple crumble it would set my AF off serious style. Now I knew at this stage that ingesting artificial sweeteners could cause an attack so avoided them. I talked to the cook about it and she was bewildered as said she didn't use any artificial sweeteners. Many weeks later she came to me and said she was sorry she'd just realised it was in the custard.

Before my AF started I was having diet lemonade, yogurts, chewing gum for after lunch and sweeteners in my teas. My poor body was being inundated with artificial sweeteners and there was I thinking I was being healthy and wouldn't grow fat!

That's how it was proved to me that artificial sweeteners were causing my AF. I now avoid them and any other artificial additives. I'm in constant AF after having had 3 ablations but at a low rate of between 60-90bpm and am mostly unaware of what my heart is doing. Right now while I'm sat still it's flitting from 68-81bpm but is mostly around early 70's BP right now is 117/65. It's a good day and I'm likely to spend another day weeding in the garden.

Have a good day everyone. It's a sunny one here in Devon, bit breezy though but that will dry my washing. Talking of washing I used to have to bite my tongue when nurses came on duty in the afternoon and said they'd managed to dry three loads of washing that morning. I thought that was the most boring thing to tell anyone. Strange and must reflect on my life because I now find being told that quite interesting!

Jean

[Carew]

The issue of unexpected sweeteners is significant. And the way that many products (toothpaste and other personal care products, medicines and food/drink) have gone for them means that there is often little easy choice.

My resting heart rate appears to average 94 (about 70 to 100) and permanent afib. And from 47 to 130 while asleep last night!

[Bagrat]

And this is why I haven't got a fit bit, Kardia or clever app . If I feel a bit weird ( more than usual!!) then I stop, rest and try to resist checking my pulse. Usually fail btw

[Carew in reply to Bagrat]

My choice is the opposite.

Having been told that I have afib - when I mostly didn't notice anything - a device does help with awareness.

I mostly look historically - rather than to find my current state. I wouldn't normally have known any of the things I included above. But I have seen a change to a medication months earlier correlated with a modest but distinct change to heart rate.

[Bagrat]

Then it works for you very well. I am hypervigilant so know just before any arrhythmia it will happen ( sinus tachy or AF, both usually very brief). It is both a curse and a blessing!!

[Carew in reply to Bagrat]

I can always tell if I have afib. I am alive.

100% permanent afib therefore being informed I am in afib at any moment is entirely redundant. Now that I know. But is WAS good to have it confirmed.

[Madscientist16]

Since my AF diagnosis I am especially sensitive to any artificial sweeteners; sucralose, saccharine, ace K. Regular sugar or stevia do not bother me.