While the demerits of aerated colas is commonly known, a latest study claims that drinking artificially sweetened soft drinks regularly by pregnant women can cause preterm delivery.
Moms-to-be, beware! The soft drinks that you love may not be good for your baby.
While the demerits of aerated colas is commonly known, a latest study claims that drinking artificially sweetened soft drinks regularly by pregnant women can cause preterm delivery.
The study gains importance given as many pregnant women consume soft drinks to ward off nausea during pregnancy, a trend which is worrying health experts. “In India, previously pregnant women used to drink nimbu paani and lassi to stop the nausea,” said Dr Anoop Misra, head of metabolic diseases and diabetes department in Delhi’s Fortis Hospital. “But now, they turn to artificially sweetened soft drinks, completely unaware of its dangers.”
Misra explained that while the dangers of the artificial sweeteners were not yet known, the reason for preterm delivery could be due to aspartame and other sweeteners.
“Soft drinks have no nutritional value. So we always ask pregnant women to consume boiled water or fresh fruit juice,” said Dr Suchitra Pandit, consultant gynecologist, Kokilaben Ambani Hospital. “Soft drinks have artificial preservatives which are not good for the baby.”
Sugar-sweetened soft drinks have been linked to a number of adverse health outcomes and artificially sweetened soft drinks are often promoted as an alternative. However, the study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition disputed the safety of such sweeteners, especially for pregnant women.
This study was conducted on 60,000 Danish women. Their intake of soft drink was assessed during mid-pregnancy. There was an association between intake of artificially sweetened carbonated and non-carbonated soft drinks. Researchers found that pregnant women who drank artificially sweetened carbonated were at a higher risk of having a preterm delivery.
“Preterm deliveries have lot of risk factors associated with it,” said Dr Rishma Dhillon Pai, consultant gynecologist, Jaslok and Lilavati Hospitals. “However, I have not studied its relation to consumption of any type of food or drinks. But, at the same time, I never encourage my patients to have soft or aerated
drinks as it does not add any nutritional value.”
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