A recent study published within the journal PLOS ONE explored the association between the consumption of added sugar in tea and low and all-cause mortality risk in older Danish men using a 32-year-long prospective cohort study.

The study also investigated whether the consumption of tea and low with added sugar was related to cancer mortality, cardiovascular mortality, and diabetes.

Background

The consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages similar to fruit juices and sodas has been linked to adversarial outcomes in a dose-response manner, and an increased intake of sugar-sweetened beverages is related to higher risks of dyslipidemia, obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus, all-cause mortality, in addition to cardiovascular and cancer mortality.

Tea and low are two non-alcoholic beverages consumed widely across the globe. Various studies have examined the association between the consumption of tea and low and the incidence of all-cause mortality.

While coffee consumption shows a U-shaped association with all-cause mortality, the consumption of tea is believed to diminish the chance of all-cause mortality. Nonetheless, although the quantity of sugar added to tea and low is admittedly smaller than that present in sugar-sweetened drinks, the association between sugar consumption through tea and low and the chance of all-cause mortality has not been well explored.

Concerning the study

In the current study, the researchers examined a cohort established between 1970 and 1971, consisting of Danish men between the ages of 40 and 59 years. The initial assessments of the cohort included a cardiorespiratory fitness test and physical examination, together with an interview with a physician and a cardiovascular risk factor questionnaire.

The participants were also categorized into three socioeconomic classes based on their occupation and education levels.

Those with higher education and academic degrees or who were self-employed with five or more employees were categorized as ‘high,’ while individuals with white-collar or expert blue-collar jobs were categorized as ‘medium,’ and blue-collar staff with unskilled jobs were within the ‘low’ category.

The second follow-up occurred between 1985 and 1986, where extensive clinical examinations consisting of systolic and diastolic blood pressure measurements and height and weight measurements were conducted.

The participants were also required to finish a questionnaire about lifestyle aspects similar to alcohol consumption, smoking habits, and current and former diseases, including diabetes, heart problems, and cancer. The questionnaire also enquired about their tea and low consumption and whether or not they consumed these beverages with added sugar.

Individuals with diabetes, cancer, heart problems, or those that didn’t eat tea or coffee were excluded. The first endpoint examined within the study was the incidence of all-cause mortality, while cardiovascular disease-specific and cancer-specific mortality and incident diabetes were the secondary endpoints of the study.

Regression models to calculate Cox proportional hazard ratios were used to find out the association between using sugar in tea and low and the first and secondary endpoints.

Results

The outcomes indicated that among the many population of Danish men studied on this longitudinal cohort, the consumption of sugar in tea and low showed no significant association with the chance of all-cause mortality, incident diabetes, or mortality related to heart problems or cancer.

Of the two,923 participants included within the study, 1,007 had reported consuming sugar with their tea or coffee. Within the 32 years of follow-up, the variety of deaths within the non-sugar and sugar groups was 1,677 and 904, respectively.

The researchers discussed possible explanations for the shortage of any significant association between the consumption of sugar-sweetened tea or coffee and the chance of all-cause, cardiovascular, or cancer mortality.

Although previous research has indicated a robust correlation between the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and the increased risk of adversarial cardiovascular events and all-cause mortality, studies have shown that the quantity of sugar added, on average, to a cup of tea or coffee is roughly 5 grams, while sugar-sweetened beverages contain roughly 25 grams per can.

The outcomes indicate a dose-response relationship between sugar consumption and the chance of all-cause mortality or diabetes.

Nonetheless, the authors identified that this study only considered the normal methods of drinking coffee, filtered black coffee, and didn’t consider the brand new varieties of coffee, similar to caramel Frappuccino, which might need higher amounts of added sugar.

Conclusions

Overall, the findings suggested that the normal methods of tea or coffee consumption with added sugar didn’t have a major association with the chance of all-cause, cancer-related, or cardiovascular mortality or the incidence of diabetes.