When you read this title I’m sure you all thought “smoking is obviously worse” however, recent studies show consuming sugar may be as detrimental to one’s health. We are aware drinking sugary sodas could lead to obesity, diabetes and heart attacks it may also speed up your body’s aging process.
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A recent study conducted at the University of California at San Francisco claims that sugar speeds up the aging process as much as smoking does. Researchers came to this conclusion by surveying over 5,300 healthy Americans. The result of this study was that consuming 20 oz. soda every day can cause over 4.5 years of aging, which is the same amount induced by smokers. Also, interestingly, consuming just 8 oz. of soda can cause 1.9 years of aging to the body. This is because as you age telomeres in white blood cells, or caps at the end of your chromosomes, shrink and the shorter it is the harder it is for a cell to regenerate–causing the body to age.
However on http://www.ucsf.edu/news/2014/10/119431/sugared-soda-consumption-cell-aging-associated-new-study lead author in the study Cindy Leung reiterates, “It is critical to understand both dietary factors that may shorten telomeres, as well as dietary factors that may lengthen telomeres. Here it appeared that the only beverage consumption that had a measurable negative association with telomere length was consumption of sugared soda”
At http://www.rttnews.com/2399722/sugar-accelerates-aging-process-as-much-as-smoking-study-says.aspx?type=hn ”The study looks at DNA from the healthy Americans and concludes that people who drank more sugary drinks like soda are more likely to have shorter telomeres and age quicker. The senior author of the study, Elissa Epel, states, ” “We think we can get away with drinking lots of soda as long as we are not gaining weight, but this suggests that there is an invisible pathway that leads to accelerated aging, regardless of weight,” People genuinely feel that if they aren’t gaining weight (they can’t see the physical consequences of their actions) that nothing bad is happening, but it is important to understand the other factors that consuming sugar has on the body.
However, an important realization is that this study just shows a link between soda consumption and the aging process. Correlation does not equal causation so this study doesn’t prove drinking soda causes the aging of the body. This study certainly raises concern but it is just the beginning. Epel states, “This is the first demonstration that soda is associated with telomere shortness. This finding is held regardless of age, race, income and education level.”
http://www.rttnews.com/2399722/sugar-accelerates-aging-process-as-much-as-smoking-study-says.aspx?type=hn
http://ww2.nationalpost.com/m/wp/blog.html?b=news.nationalpost.com/2014/10/20/sugar-accelerates-aging-process-much-like-smoking-u-s-study-says
http://www.ucsf.edu/news/2014/10/119431/sugared-soda-consumption-cell-aging-associated-new-study
I found this article interesting, but like Somil, I feel like it was lacking information. You state that a study was done on 5,300 Americans and they were given a 20 oz. soda can a day, for how long was this conducted? You have to keep in mind that there could have been other variables causing the aging; lack of exercise, other things ingested and etc. I think that comparing this to smoking is difficult to do because so many people smoke different amounts and so many people have such different diets it is hard to study the effects of soda and smoking. If a double blind experiment was set up, studying the effects of smoking cigarettes and drinking soda, you would maybe be able to see accurate results and compare them. But it is just not practical to force someone to smoke a cigarette. I also think it is hard to measure how much someone aged, some people just age faster then others in general. Do you know how they measured the 4.5 years of aging after drinking 20oz. of soda a day?
“…consuming 20 oz. soda every day can cause over 4.5 years of aging, which is the same amount induced by smokers.”
Smoking how much? There must be a difference in the aging caused by smoking one cigarette per week and smoking two packs every day. Is it the average aging amongst all smokers in America?
Your post was focused mainly on the effects of soda upon aging, but your title suggests that it is the sugar in soda causing aging. Is all sugar causing aging, or is it just soda? How do we know it’s the sugar specifically, and not something else in soda that is causing aging?
All in all, the study has potential, but needs to be more specific if it is to be taken seriously.