Sugary drinks increase the risk of high blood pressure by 70% - even in teenagers

Everyone knows that drinking sugary drinks, such as fizzy drinks and some fruit juices, can cause them to pile on the pounds.

But new research suggests they can also lead to an increase in blood pressure.

A review published in The American Journal of Cardiology revealed there is a strong correlation between drinking sugar-sweetened drinks and elevated blood pressure.

Dr Aaqib Habib Malik, from the Griffin Hospital in Derby, Connecticut, and his colleagues reviewed 12 studies to establish if there is a link between sweet drinks and high blood pressure, Health Day reports.

The studies they looked at included almost 410,000 people.

They discovered that all of the studies showed a correlation between consuming sugar-sweetened drinks and high blood pressure. 

The studies revealed that people who drink sugary drinks are between 26 and 70 per cent more likely to develop high blood pressure than people who do not drink them, Daily RX reports.

They also showed that teenagers who drink three or more sugar-sweetened drinks a day are 87 per cent more likely to develop high blood pressure.

The researchers made a number of suggestions as to how the drinks might increase blood pressure.

They say they can lower the levels of nitric oxide in the body which causes the blood vessels to constrict and, therefore, the blood pressure to increase.

Alternatively, they suggest that the increase in blood pressure could be a response to the salt in some of these drinks.

Medical Xpress reports that the authors wrote: ‘In conclusion, our systematic review shows that the consumption of [sugar-sweetened beverages] is associated with higher [blood pressure], leading to increased incidence of hypertension.

‘Restriction on [sugar-sweetened beverage] consumption should be incorporated in the recommendations of lifestyle modifications for the treatment of hypertension. 

‘Interventions to reduce intake of [sugar-sweetened beverage] should be an integral part of public health strategy to reduce the incidence of hypertension.’

Sugary drinks have already been associated with diabetes, obesity and heart disease.