Association of Consumption of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages or Artificially Sweetened Beverages with Mortality: A Systematic Review and Dose-Response Meta-Analysis of Prospective Cohort Studies

Abstract

Sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) and artificially sweetened beverage (ASB) intakes have been reported to be associated with mortality; however, conclusions have been inconsistent. This review synthesized the evidence on the associations of SSB and ASB intakes with mortality from all causes, cardiovascular disease (CVD), and cancer among all populations (including general, diseased, or occupational populations, etc.). PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, ProQuest, ClinicalTrials.gov, and the International Clinical Trials Registry Platform were searched up to March 2020. Fifteen studies including 17 cohorts were included in meta-analyses. Each serving (12 fluid ounces or 355 mL) increase in daily SSB consumption was associated with higher risks of all-cause (HR: 1.08; 95% CI: 1.04, 1.12; 11 cohorts with 965,851 participants) and CVD (HR: 1.08; 95% CI: 1.04, 1.12; 13 cohorts with 898,005 participants) mortality. The associations of ASB intakes with all-cause and CVD mortality were J-shaped, and HRs (95% CI) across different doses (0, 1, 1.5, 2, and 2.5 servings/d) were 1.00, 1.01 (0.99, 1.03), 1.04 (1.02, 1.07), 1.08 (1.05, 1.11), and 1.13 (1.09, 1.18) for all-cause mortality and 1.00, 1.01 (0.96, 1.07), 1.07 (1.01, 1.13), 1.15 (1.08, 1.23), and 1.25 (1.14, 1.37) for CVD mortality. No significant association was found for cancer mortality. According to the NutriGrade scoring system, the quality of evidence on the associations of SSB intakes with all-cause and CVD mortality was high, and the quality of evidence on other associations was low to moderate. In summary, higher SSB and ASB intakes were associated with higher risks of all-cause mortality and CVD mortality. Given the limited evidence, future studies should further investigate the association between ASB intakes and cause-specific mortality.

Keywords: artificially sweetened beverage; cardiovascular disease; meta-analysis; mortality; sugar-sweetened beverage.