A new long-term, research study shows that artificially sweetened colas are related to depression.
Medical researcher Honglei Chen, M.D., Ph.D., Epidemiology Branch at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, determined that diet soda drinkers are more likely to be down in the dumps than regular soda drinkers, and coffee drinkers are happier than both.
According to Dr. Chen’s research, “the risk appeared to be greater for people who drank diet [rather] than regular soda.” People who drink four or more daily sodas were about 30 percent more likely to be diagnosed with depression than people who didn’t drink soda at all. Coffee drinkers were about 10 percent less likely to develop depression than people who didn’t drink coffee at all.
Dr. Chen recorded the beverage consumption of 263,925 people between the ages of 50 and 71 over the course of one year. After 10 years, the researchers followed up with the participants, and analyzed the long term results.
The frequent consumption of sweetened beverages was linked to a modestly higher risk of depression, and diet soda drinkers were found to be at the highest risk for depression. Out of the 263,925 people studied, 11,311 participants had been diagnosed with depression.
This study merely adds to a growing number of research studies that prove artificially sweetened drinks lead to poor health.
Coffee Lowers Depression
The study also revealed that people who consume four or more cups of coffee a day were 10 percent less likely to be diagnosed with depression than non-coffee drinkers. Dr. Chen discovered that the high concentration of antioxidants and phytochemicals in coffee and tea are one reason for his findings.
Our research suggests that cutting down on sweetened diet drinks or replacing them with unsweetened coffee may help lower your depression risk – Honglei Chen, M.D., Ph.D