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Sweetened diet drinks increased depression risk in older adults
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Frequent consumption of sweetened beverages, especially diet drinks, was associated with a higher risk for depression among older adults, according to new data to be presented at the American Academy of Neurology annual meeting in San Diego. Coffee, however, was found to be associated with a slightly lower risk for depression.
“Sweetened beverages, coffee and tea are commonly consumed worldwide and have important physical — and may have important mental — health consequences,” study researcher Honglei Chen, MD, PhD, of the National Institutes of Health and a member of the American Academy of Neurology, said in press release.
Honglei Chen
According to the study abstract, Chen and colleagues examined the relationship between depression and consumption of sweetened beverages, coffee and tea in 263,925 older US adults. Depression diagnoses since 2000 were self-reported, and consumption of beverages was assessed from 1995 to 1996.
Adults who drank at least four cans or cups per day of soda were more likely to develop depression vs. those who did not drink soda (OR=1.30; 95% CI, 1.17-1.44). Those who drank fruit punch were more likely to develop depression (OR=1.38; 95% CI, 1.15-1.65). Adults who drank coffee were less likely to develop depression vs. those who did not drink coffee (OR=0.91; 95% CI, 0.84-0.98).
Additional analyses indicated that the risk for depression was higher for adults who drank diet soda (OR=1.31; 95% CI, 1.16-1.47) than regular soda (OR=1.22; 95% CI, 1.03-1.45). Similar observations were made for diet fruit punches (OR=1.51; 95% CI, 1.18-1.92) vs. regular fruit punches (OR=1.08; 95% CI, 0.79-1.46) and diet sweetened iced tea (OR=1.25; 95% CI, 1.10-1.41) vs. regular iced tea (OR=0.94; 95% CI, 0.83-1.08).
“Our research suggests that cutting down on sweetened diet drinks or replacing them with unsweetened coffee may help lower your depression risk,” Chen said. “More research is needed to confirm these findings, and people with depression should continue to take depression medications prescribed by their doctors.”
Disclosure: Dr. Chen reports no relevant financial disclosures.