Sweetened drinks correlated to atrial fibrillation risk

New research in Circulation: Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology suggest that adults consuming over two litres of sugar- or artificially-sweetened beverages weekly face a higher risk of atrial fibrillation (AFib) compared to those consuming less. However, drinking one litre or less of unsweetened juice weekly correlates with a lower AFib risk. The study, based on UK Biobank data from over 200,000 participants, tracked nearly 10 years of follow-up, identifying 9,362 AFib cases.

Key findings:

• Over 2 litres/week of artificially sweetened drinks associated with a 20% AFib risk increase.
• Over 2 litres/week of sugar-sweetened drinks linked to a 10% AFib risk increase.
• Drinking ≤1 litre/week of pure fruit juice correlated with an 8% lower AFib risk.

Researchers also considered genetic susceptibility to AFib, finding increased risk with high consumption of artificially sweetened drinks regardless of genetics. However, the study's observational nature and reliance on self-reported dietary data pose limitations.