‘Drinks with high sugar content predispose one to stroke’

… a bottle of soft drink contains up to 15 cubes of sugar

Abuja -  Dr Adamu Onu, a family physician, Garki Hospital Abuja, said on Thursday that excessive consumption of soft drink predisposes one to stroke, irrespective of the sex.

Onu  in Abuja said that any drink with “excessively high sugar content” would predispose anyone to stroke.

Soft drinks are carbonated drinks that are non-alcoholic, it could also be referred to as soda, soda pop, pop, or tonic.

He said that the body was not designed to take any drink  with high sugar content, adding that the sugar in drinks were in pure form, which goes directly into the blood.

According to the physician, the sugar in food is in natural form and the body processes it.

“For the fact that sugar comes in pure form, it induces the body to produce insulin, hence increasing the burden on the pancreas.”

He said that if there was too much sugar, it could cause beta cell stress as a result, one might not only have stroke but develop other kinds of conditions like diabetes after a period of time.

The New England Journal of Medicine, says beta cells have a dominant role in the regulation of normal carbohydrate metabolism, they serve as depots of insulin reserve.

“Most of our soft drinks are high in sugar, for instance a bottle of soft drink contains up to 15 cubes of sugar,” he added.

According to him, there is always a higher incidence of stroke as people get older, hence the effect of soft drinks is not age related.

He, therefore,advised that one should cut down the intake of soft drink, and adopt a healthy lifestyle.

NAN also reports that most nutritionists advise that juices from natural fruits are the best. (NAN)