New data raises questions about the drinks people consume and the potential risks associated with them, according to researchers at Galway University in Ireland, in partnership with Hamilton’s McMaster University. The five-year study recruited 13,500 people in 27 countries who had suffered a stroke. Researchers collected data on what they were drinking and whether it had any link to stroke.
"Fizzy drinks, fruit drinks and water,” said Dr. Andrew Smyth, a Physician at Galway University Hospitals and professor of clinical epidemiology. “And we looked at black tea, green tea and other types of tea.
" Fizzy drinks, both with sugar and artificially sweetened, were linked with a 22 per cent increase chance of having a stroke. The increased risk of stroke climbed to 37 per cent with fruit juice consumption. Smyth said it all came down to the harmful elements in drinks that can increase a person's chances of suffering a stroke.
"If you walk into the grocery store and you see some 100 per cent freshly squeezed fruit juice and then you also see a lot of other fruit drinks that are made from concentrates that have additives, sugars and extra things,” said Smyth. Earlier research findings showed more than four cups of coffee a day is also linked to higher stroke risk, however, several types of tea have the opposite effect. "We found with three to four cups a day of black tea or green tea reduced your chance of having a stroke by a third,” said Smyth.
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