Consumption of Sugar-Sweetened or Artificially Sweetened Beverages and Semen Quality in Young Men: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background: Existing literature suggests that frequent consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks may be associated with lower semen quality. Studies performed in mice suggest a dose-response relationship between intake of saccharin or aspartame, two artificial sweeteners, and sperm and testis function. Methods: A cross-sectional study based on data from The Fetal Programming of Semen Quality (FEPOS) Cohort, including 1047 young men (mean age = 19 years) was performed. Each male participant completed an online questionnaire on health, health behavior and diet, and provided a semen sample. The associations between consumption of sugar-sweetened or artificially sweetened beverages (moderate ≥ 3 days/week; infrequent < 3 days/week) and semen quality were analyzed using a multivariable, negative, binomial regression model. Results: Sugar-sweetened or artificially sweetened beverage consumption was not strongly associated with either semen volume, sperm concentration, total sperm count or total motility in young men. The proportion of morphologically normal sperm was 11% lower (0.89 (95% CI 0.76, 1.04)) for moderate (≥3 days/week) consumption of artificially sweetened beverages relative to infrequent (<3 days/week). Conclusion: Consumption of sugar-sweetened or artificially sweetened beverages, at the levels present in this study had limited effect on the measured markers of semen quality in young men.

Sugary beverage intake and genetic risk in relation to brain structure and incident dementia: evidence from the UK Biobank

IntroductionThis study investigated the relation of sugary beverage (SB) intake to brain structure and dementia risk.MethodsAmong 187,994 UK Biobank participants, intake of SBs (one unit=250 mL) and specific subtypes was assessed using repeated 24-hr dietary recalls. Multivariable-adjusted hazard rations (HR) was estimated for incident dementia identified through medical records and death registries.ResultsDuring 1,790,996 person-years, 1,351 dementia cases were identified. Higher intake (>2 units/d v. none) of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) (HR=1.47, 95%CI: 1.13~1.92) and artificially-sweetened beverages (ASB) (HR=1.41, 1.00~1.99) was associated with an elevated dementia risk. Conversely, moderate intake of natural sweet juices (NSJ) (>0 and <=1 unit/d v. none) was related to a decreased risk (HR=0.80, 0.71~0.90). The associations were consistent with related brain structural markers and modified by genetic risks (P-interaction<0.002).DiscussionThese findings underscored that SSB and ASB could be risk factors of dementia, while moderate NSJ intake could potentially reduce dementia risk.

Sugar- and Artificially Sweetened Beverages Consumption Linked to Type 2 Diabetes, Cardiovascular Diseases, and All-Cause Mortality: A Systematic Review and Dose-Response Meta-Analysis of Prospective Cohort Studies

Although studies have examined the association between habitual consumption of sugar- (SSBs) and artificially sweetened beverages (ASBs) and health outcomes, the results are inconclusive. Here, we conducted a dose-response meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies in order to summarize the relationship between SSBs and ASBs consumption and risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D), cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), and all-cause mortality. All relevant articles were systematically searched in PubMed, Embase, and Ovid databases until 20 June 2020. Thirty-four studies met the inclusion criteria and were eligible for analysis. Summary relative risks (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were estimated using random effects or fixed-effects model for highest versus lowest intake categories, as well as for linear and non-linear relationships. With each additional SSB and ASB serving per day, the risk increased by 27% (RR: 1.27, 95%CI: 1.15–1.41, I2 = 80.8%) and 13% (95%CI: 1.03–1.25, I2 = 78.7%) for T2D, 9% (RR: 1.09, 95%CI: 1.07–1.12, I2 = 42.7%) and 8% (RR: 1.08, 95%CI: 1.04–1.11, I2 = 45.5%) for CVDs, and 10% (RR: 1.10, 95%CI: 0.97–1.26, I2 = 86.3%) and 7% (RR: 1.07, 95%CI: 0.91–1.25, I2 = 76.9%) for all-cause mortality. Linear relationships were found for SSBs with T2D and CVDs. Non-linear relationships were found for ASBs with T2D, CVDs, and all-cause mortality and for SSBs with all-cause mortality. The findings from the current meta-analysis indicate that increased consumption of SSBs and ASBs is associated with the risk of T2D, CVDs, and all-cause mortality.

Sugar-Sweetened Beverages, Artificially Sweetened Beverages, and Breast Cancer Risk: Results From Two Prospective US Cohorts

Objectives Whether consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) or artificially sweetened beverages (ASBs) is associated with risk of breast cancer is of public health interest. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate associations between consumption of SSBs and ASBs with risk of total and subtype-specific breast cancer. Methods We followed 80,677 women from the Nurses’ Health Study (NHS; 1980 to 2016) and 86,115 women from the Nurses’ Health Study II (NHSII; 1991 to 2017) who were free from breast cancer at baseline. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression was used to estimate hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results We documented 10,248 breast cancer cases during 3,990,008 person-years of follow-up. Consumption of SSBs or ASBs were not associated with total breast cancer risk; pooled HR (95% CI) comparing extreme categories were 1.05 (0.97, 1.15) and 0.97 (0.91, 1.03), respectively. In cohort-specific analysis, SSBs were associated with a higher risk of breast cancer in NHS (HR ≥1/day vs. &lt; 1/month 1.12; 95% CI 1.00, 1.24; P-trend = 0.03). We observed a significant interaction by BMI (P-interaction = 0.02), where a modestly higher risk of breast cancer with each serving per day increment of SSBs was found in lean women (BMI &lt; 25 kg/m2) (HR, 1.06, 95% CI, 1.01, 1.12), but not among overweight or obese women (BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2) (HR, 0.98, 95% CI, 0.93, 1.04). Moreover, in the pooled, fully adjusted analysis, compared to infrequent consumers (&lt;1/month), those who consumed ≥ 1 serving of ASBs per day had a lower risk of luminal A breast tumors (HR, 0.88; 95% CI, 0.78, 0.99; P-trend = 0.01). Conclusions Although no significant associations were observed overall, consumption of SSBs was associated with a modest higher risk of breast cancer among lean women. This finding could have occurred by chance and needs confirmation. Our findings also suggest no substantial increase in risk of breast cancer with consumption of ASBs. Funding Sources This study was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health, and the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. ARN was supported by a fellowship from the Spanish Association Against Cancer Scientific Foundation (FC AECC). The funding sources did not participate in the design or conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis or interpretation of the data; or preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript.

Influence of ultra-processed foods consumption during pregnancy on baby's anthropometric measurements, from birth to the first year of life: a systematic review

Objectives: to perform a systematic review of studies that investigated the influence of ultra-processed foods (UPF) consumption during pregnancy on child’s anthropometric parameters up to one year of life. Methods: cohort and cross-sectional studies were researched in BVS, Cinahl, Cochrane, Embase, Pubmed, Scopus and Web of Science databases until March 2020, and the main descriptors were: “Pregnant Women”, “Ultra-processed foods”, “Birth Weight”, “Smallfor Gestational Age”, “Infant”, “Newborn”. Results: seventeen articles were considered eligible and evaluated the associations between the exposures: ultra-processed dietary patterns; soft drinks, sugar-sweetened beverages, artificially sweetened beverages; fast food, junk food, sweets, snacks and the outcomes: birth weight and its classifications; length and head circumference at birth; birth weight adjustments according to gestational age; weight/age, length/age, body mass index/age and weight/length indices. The results showed: 36 non-significant associations between the exposures and the outcomes; 13 direct associations (outcomes versus ultraprocessed dietary patterns, soft drinks, artificially sweetened beverages, sweets, junk food) and 5 inverse associations (outcomes versus ultra-processed dietary patterns, soft drinks). Conclusions: most of the evaluated literature did not demonstrate the influence of UPF consumption during pregnancy on the newborn’s anthropometric measurements up to one year of life and denoted a smaller number of direct and inverse associations between the exposures and the outcomes.