Both soda and diet soda are two drinks you won’t want to be anywhere near if you really care about your health. These highly consumed beverages contain massive amounts of sugar and toxic ingredients, leading to a great deal of health complications. Research has found that those who drink soda on a daily basis are increasing their risk of heart attack and stroke.

Diet Soda Increases Risk of Heart Attack and Stroke

Lead researcher Hannah Gardener and her team studied 2,564 adults aged 69 years or older in New York City over the course of 10 years. During the time period, 591 men and women had a heart attack, stroke, or died of cardiovascular causes. Researchers found that diet soda consumption was linked to a 44 percent higher chance of heart attack or stroke, up from the 22 percent non-soda drinkers have.

Although the findings are sad for soda-consumers, it is only a glimpse of how soda and diet soda can really cause problems. Most sodas contain very large quantities of sugar. This sugar often comes in some refined form, like high-fructose corn syrup, which is even more dangerous than regular sugar and is known to contain mercury. The over-consumption of sugar alone can actually damage the body in a number of ways, including damaging DNA, causing inflammation, altering cellular metabolism, increasing production of free radicals, and causing cancer. Amazingly, high-fructose corn syrup is even worse.

Research released by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) shows that half of the US population above age 2 consumes sugary drinks like soda daily. Around 5 percent of the population consumes more than 4 12-ounce cans of soda every day. Needless to say, these stats go very much against the recommendation of the American Heart Association, which is to drink less than 3 cans of soda per week. But even soda with little or no sugar is harmful.

Marketed for containing little to no sugar, diet soda could even be worse than regular soda due to the addition of a toxic sweetener called aspartame. Aspartame has been shown to cause neurological issues as well as cancerous brain tumors. One study even found that 67 percent of female rats exposed to aspartame developed tumors about the size of golf balls.

To add to the health issues, one infographic shows that:

• Drinking two sodas per week increases risk of pancreatic cancer by 87 percent.

• Drinking one soda per day increases risk of metabolic syndrome by 44 percent and a child’s risk of becoming obese by 60 percent.

• Drinking two sodas per day increases risk of gout by 85 percent.

A new study evaluating past research on magnesium adds to the evidence that a diet rich in magnesium leads to a lower stroke risk. But while magnesium-rich foods were shown to lead to a lower risk of stroke, the research didn’t determine whether a magnesium supplement would have the same effect or not. It is not entirely known whether a supplement containing only magnesium would have the same effect as foods such as leafy vegetables, nuts, beans, and whole grains, which contain more nutrients and minerals than just magnesium.

Foods Rich in Magnesium Shown to Lower Stroke Risk

Researchers evaluated seven studies previously published over the span of 14 years. Approximately 250,000 people in the United States, Europe, and Asia were followed for 11.5 years on average, with 6,500 of them (3 percent) having had a stroke during the time they were followed. What the researchers noticed was that for every addition of 100 milligrams of magnesium a person consumed per day came a reduced risk of an ischemic stroke by 9 percent.

While magnesium has always been known to be a very powerful mineral in general, a study involving 3,713 postmenopausal women has shown that it also possesses amazing anti-inflammatory properties. Magnesium could be of great aid to those who wish to avoid the unreliable and dangerous effects of anti-inflammatory pharmaceuticals. It has also been found that magnesium can protect against diabetes.

A study led by Dr. Ka from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has found a surprising relationship between magnesium and type 2 diabetes. The study discovered that individuals who ingested the highest amount of magnesium from foods and vitamin supplements slashed their risk of diabetes more so than those who consumed it in lower amounts.

Greens such as spinach are fantastic sources of magnesium, due to the fact that the middle of the chlorophyll molecule (which provides vegetables their color) contains magnesium. Some legumes (beans and peas), seeds and nuts, and whole, unrefined grains are also good sources of magnesium.

A new study has found that consuming fruit with a white interior, such as apples and pears, can protect your body against strokes — adding to the pile of research that suggests fruit consumption can help slash your risk of disease. Fruit with a white interior contain both fiber and flavonoids, two potent nutrients that researchers say is why these foods are so protective against stroke.

CBS News reports:

“Two nutrients in particular,” Phillips said. “The first is fiber. Fiber has been shown to lower your blood pressure, probably the most important factor for reducing stroke risk. Another is a flavonoid that prevents plaque building up in the arteries, which also prevents heart disease.

“Both apples and pears, in particular, are high in those nutrients. Cauliflower, cucumbers, bananas — all of those things are high in those nutrients that prevent stroke.”

“The most important risk factors (for stroke), Phillips pointed out, “are high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Outside of that, if you cut out the smoking, you’re cutting your risk dramatically. Diabetes is a risk factor, and a previous history of heart disease or a family history of stroke, they matter also.

Depressed women may have a higher risk of stroke, according to new research published online Aug. 11 in the journal Stroke.

“We know that stroke can increase risk of depression, but depression itself may increase risk of future stroke,” said study author An Pan, a research scientist at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston.

HealthDay reports:

Women with a history of depression were 29 percent more likely to have a stroke during six years of follow-up, and this finding held even when researchers controlled for other factors known to increase stroke risk. What’s more, women who took antidepressants had a 39 percent increased risk of stroke.

The study was published online Aug. 11 in the journal Stroke.

The jury is out in terms of the role that antidepressants have in upping stroke risk, Pan said. “We don’t know whether medications increase risk of stroke or if medicine is a marker for severity of depression.”

Depressed women were more likely to be single, smoke and be less physically active than their non-depressed counterparts, the study showed. They were also slightly younger, had a higher body mass index and more coexisting conditions such as high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes.

Pan and colleagues followed 80,574 women aged 54 to 79 who took part in the Nurses’ Health Study from 2000 to 2006 and had no prior history of stroke. Depression was assessed via a standardized tool measuring symptoms, antidepressant prescriptions, and/or a diagnosis of depression from a doctor. Overall, 22 percent of women were depressed or had a history of depression when the study began, and there were 1,033 strokes during six years of follow-up. Specifically, 538 women had ischemic stroke, the most common form of stroke, which is caused by a blockage such as a blood clot, and 124 women had hemorrhagic or bleeding stroke, which occurs when a blood vessel in the brain bursts.

“If you have depression, see a doctor and get diagnosed,” he said. “Treating your depression is very important to lower your future risk of cardiovascular disease, and if you have depression, you probably have some other lifestyle factors that you need to change.”

Dr. Alan Manevitz, a psychiatrist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, agreed. “Depression is associated with poor health behaviors including poor diet, lack of medication compliance and lack of exercise, all of which can increase stroke risk.”

According to a number of doctors, the number of women having strokes during pregnancy is on the rise. The numbers increased from 4,085 in 1994-5 to 6,293 in 2006-7, the journal Stroke suggests. Obesity and poor heart health have been pinned as a factor in the increase. It has also been found that poisonous substances in the water can lead to stroke.

BBC News reports:

The Stroke Association said it was concerned by the sharp increase. Pregnancy is a known – if small – risk factor for stroke.

This study compared data from more than 1,000 hospitals in 1994-5 with 2006-7.

More common

During pregnancy itself, the proportion of women having a stroke increased by 47%, going from 0.15 to 0.22 strokes per 1000 deliveries.

In the 12 weeks after birth there was an increase from 0.12 to 0.22 strokes per 1000 deliveries, an 83% increase.

Dr Elena Kuklina, lead researcher from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said: “I am surprised at the magnitude of the increase, which is substantial. Our results indicate an urgent need to take a closer look.”

The researchers suggest that two conditions – high blood pressure and heart disease – “explained almost all of the increase” in stroke after birth.

Dr Kuklina said: “Now more and more women entering pregnancy already have some type of risk factor for stroke, such as obesity, chronic hypertension, diabetes or congenital heart disease.

“Since pregnancy by itself is a risk factor, if you have one of these other stroke risk factors, it doubles the risk.”

Many of these conditions are also increasing in the UK.

Dr Sharlin Ahmed, research liaison officer for The Stroke Association, said: “We’re concerned that this study has found such a sharp increase in pregnancy-related stroke over the past few years.

“It is so important for woman wanting to start a family to understand the risks associated with pregnancy and to take steps to make sure they are as healthy as possible before they become pregnant.”

According to a new study published in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association, optimism may be the key to stroke prevention in addition to improving overall health. Researchers pulled 6044 adults over 50 and asked them to rate their level of optimism based on a 16 point scale. When adjusted for age, each addition point on the optimism scale accounted for a 9 percent decrease in acute stroke risk. What does this mean? Very optimistic people are cutting their risk of stroke by an extremely large percent.

International Business Times reports:

The researchers also adjusted for factors like smoking, alcohol use, race, gender, marital status, blood pressure, chronic illness, mental illness, body mass index and level of physical activity. Even when these factors were accounted for, researchers found that the association between optimism and reduced risk of stroke remained strong.

“Our work suggests that people who expect the best things in life actively take steps to promote health,” said Eric Kim, study lead author and a clinical psychology doctoral student at the University of Michigan.  “Optimism may play an important role in protecting against stroke among older adults,” he added.

Past studied have found a direct correlation between optimism and heart and immune system health.  Study in the past has associated an optimistic attitude with healthier heart and stronger immune systems.

A biological effect is also possible.   ”In a similar way that depression can impact functioning, we think optimism can as well,” he said.

Kim said, however, that a limitation of the study was that the follow-up period was only two years.

Consuming copious amounts of olive oil may dramatically reduce stroke risk for older adults, according to a population-based study.

Heavy use in cooking and dressings was associated with a 41% lower stroke incidence compared with never using olive oil, Cécilia Samieri of the Université Bordeaux in France and colleagues found.

The top one-third on intake by serum measures had a 73 percent lower stroke risk than those in the bottom third among older adults living in three cities in France.

Because these results controlled for other dietary and stroke risk factors, olive oil may be considered “a major protective component” of the Mediterranean diet for stroke, the group suggested in the Aug. 2 issue of Neurology.

Intensive olive oil intake could find a place alongside more fruits and vegetables and less salt in the dietary recommendations to prevent stroke in elderly populations, Samieri and colleagues suggested.

“But this can be claimed with confidence only if the observations … withstand the trial of randomized interventions,” warned Dr. Nikolaos Scarmeas of Columbia University Medical Center in New York City and Dr. Luc Dauchet of Institut Pasteur de Lille, France, in an accompanying editorial.

Older people who regularly exercise at moderate to intense levels may have a 40% lower risk of developing brain damage linked to ischemic strokes, certain kinds of dementia and mobility problems.

New research published Wednesday in the journalNeurology says the MRIs of people who exercised at higher levels were significantly less likely to show silent brain infarcts — caused by blocked arteries that interrupt blood flow and are markers for strokes — than people who exercised lightly.

Until now, studies have shown exercise helps lower blood pressure, bad cholesterol and insulin levels, all risk factors for strokes causing brain damage. Treating those conditions is helpful, but often brain damage from multiple infarctions is not reversible.

“It’s not good enough just to exercise, but the more (intense) the better,” says physician Joshua Willey, a co-author of the study and researcher at Columbia University’s Department of Neurology. “We think exercise is protecting against the development of brain infarcts, and the hope is with lower risk of having these events, you’d also be at lower risk of dementia or stroke.”

The research involves 1,238 participants in a study started in 1993 at Columbia University and the University of Miami and focuses on risk factors for vascular disease.

Participants completed a questionnaire about how often and how intensely they exercised at the beginning of the study and then had MRI scans of their brains six years later, when they were an average of 70 years old.

Forty-three percent of participants reported that they had no regular exercise; 36% engaged in regular light exercise, such as golf, walking, bowling or dancing; and 21% engaged in regular moderate to intense exercise, such as hiking, tennis, swimming, biking, jogging or racquetball. There was no difference between those who engaged in light exercise and those who did not exercise.

The American Heart Association’s guidelines for ideal cardiovascular health includes 150 minutes of moderate-intensity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity exercise a week.

“We did not want this to discourage anyone from exercising, even if it’s light exercise,” Willey says. “The benefits of exercise are proven. We feel that’s an integral part of general good health.”

More research is needed, says Joseph Boderick, a stroke specialist at the University of Cincinnati who was not associated with the study. The research did not look at obesity. One of the major reasons people don’t exercise, he says, is because they’re obese.

“Maybe the people who exercised less already had some infarcts and were less steady on their feet,” he says.

The study did not address why more strenuous exercise appears to be helpful. Willey, however, says, “Some of the effects of exercise appear to be related to improving other health conditions that affect the risk of stroke, such as hypertension, obesity, high cholesterol and low HDL, diabetes, atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) and heart disease.”

Diabetes now affects nearly 26 million Americans of all ages and 79 million people have what doctors call “prediabetes,” according to 2011 estimates released Wednesday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Prediabetes, which the CDC says affects 35 percent of adults, is a condition where blood sugar levels are higher than normal but not yet high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes. Prediabetes greatly boosts a person’s odds for type 2 diabetes, heart disease and stroke.

The vast majority of cases of diabetes are type 2, which develops when the body’s cells gradually lose sensitivity to insulin.

According to experts, there’s one very big reason for type 2 diabetes’ continuing rise among Americans — weight gain.

“The percentage of U.S. adults who are overweight or obese has also risen dramatically, and there is no doubt that rising rates of obesity are linked to the rising rates of diabetes,” said Dr. Christine Resta, an expert on diabetes in the division of endocrinology at Maimonides Medical Center in New York City.

But changes in the way doctors diagnose the illness may have played a role in rising numbers, too, another expert said.

“One of the reasons the incidence of diabetes has been increasing in the last few years is because the American Diabetes Association lowered the guidelines for diabetes diagnosis,” explained Dr. Jacob Warman, chief of endocrinology at The Brooklyn Hospital Center in New York City. “Last year, the ADA recommended using [hemoglobin] A1c levels to diagnose both diabetes and prediabetes. This change in criteria resulted in a great increase of the number of patients with this diagnosis. The decision to change the criteria remains controversial, but the guidelines to increase exercise and decrease carbohydrate intake are valid.”

In their report, the CDC agreed that the switch to hemoglobin A1c testing — which measures levels of blood glucose (sugar) over a period of two to three months — could help account for at least some of the rising numbers.

But the CDC’s National Diabetes Fact Sheet for 2011 also notes that about 27 percent of Americans with diabetes, or about 7 million people, still do not know they have the disease. Among the other data included in the fact sheet:

• About 1.9 million American adults were diagnosed with diabetes in 2010.
• Diabetes rates continue to soar among racial and ethnic minorities. Among adults, diabetes rates were about 16 percent for American Indians/Alaska Natives, 12.6 percent for blacks, nearly 12 percent for Hispanics, 8.4 percent for Asian Americans, and just over 7 percent for whites.
• Half of Americans aged 65 and older have prediabetes and nearly 27 percent have full-blown diabetes.
• Around 215,000 Americans younger than age 20 have diabetes, including type 1 diabetes.

The 2011 diabetes incidence estimates mark a continued rise. In 2008, for example, the CDC estimated that 23.6 million Americans (7.8 percent) had diabetes and 57 million adults had prediabetes.

Besides the obesity epidemic and the switch to A1c-based diagnosis, the agency said that improvements in diabetes management may mean that many people with the disease are living longer, raising the total number affected.

Still, “these distressing numbers show how important it is to prevent type 2 diabetes and to help those who have diabetes manage the disease to prevent serious complications such as kidney failure and blindness,” Ann Albright, director of CDC’s Division of Diabetes Translation, said in an agency news release.

“We know that a structured lifestyle program that includes losing weight and increasing physical activity can prevent or delay type 2 diabetes,” she added.

Diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death in the United States and now costs $174 billion a year, including $116 billion in direct medical expenses, according to the CDC. People with diabetes are at increased risk for heart attack, stroke, high blood pressure, kidney failure, blindness and amputation of feet and legs.

“With more patients, there are more costs. But even the cost per patient has gone up,” Resta said. “Newer diabetes medications are expensive, often 10 times the cost of older generic medicines. When patients are diagnosed younger, they are more likely to eventually require multiple diabetes medications, which also drives up costs. Also, the longer the duration of diabetes, the more likely the patient is to have [expensive] complications.”

If current trends continue, as many as one in three American adults could have diabetes by 2050, predicted a CDC study published last year.

Chances are that there is a world of organic and synthetic substances floating around in your drinking water. If you are using tap water to cook your food, or drinking it straight from the faucet, then you are exposing yourself to these substances. A new study has found that arsenic, present in the water supply of certain areas, has been tied to an increased stroke risk. Extended exposure may also lead to cancer and type 2 diabetes.

The study, published in the journal Stroke, found that people who lived in areas that contained moderately high levels of arsenic had an increased risk of stroke. Michigan residents were studied, and it was concluded that 20 percent of zip codes with the highest arsenic levels showed that stroke hospitalization risk was double that of lowest levels of arsenic found in the drinking water. High levels are considered to be between roughly 19 and 22 micrograms per liter.

What constitutes a “safe” amount of a toxic substance, however, is arguable. There really is no safe level of arsenic in the drinking water, though so-called health experts will argue that small amounts of arsenic will do no harm to the body. While this may be true, the body is being assaulted by thousands of daily stressors that exist all throughout the environment.

Bishphenol a (BPA), the fertility-killing hormone menace was also deemed to have supposedly “safe” levels, despite scientists proclaiming that there is no such thing. Since then, even the mainstream media has admitted that BPA is an extreme health hazard, linked to reduced sperm health and obesity.

The Environmental Working Group (EWG) has established a database of 20 million water testing results from across the country. Of these 20 million tests performed, 316 pollutants have been identified in drinking water. Of the pollutants, 49 were above (sometimes severely so) the safe levels as determined by the federal government. This leads to polluted tap water finding its way into the homes of 56 million United States citizens. In addition, the government has not set a new drinking water standard since 2001, despite all of the evidence.

Invest in a high quality filtration system that removes potentially harmful compounds from the water while simultaneously restoring valuable minerals to the water. If you have a reverse osmosis filter, it is especially important to restore these minerals.