The U.S. National Institute of Health conducted a study of more than 200,000 older adults and found that those who drank more than four sweetened beverages per day, especially diet soda suffered a greater risk for depression than those who consumed none. The study confirmed that adults who drank four cans of soda per day had a 30 percent risk of depression while drinking the same amount of fruit punch had a 38 percent risk. And this risk was even greater for those who drank diet drinks.
Surprisingly, drinking coffee had an opposite effect, as people who drank four cups of coffee per day had about a 10 percent lower risk of developing a mood disorder. Honglei Chen, one of the researchers who conducted the study said that caffeine in coffee is a brain stimulant, while in theory, sweetened drinks have direct links to obesity and diabetes.
Chen, who is a member of the American Academy of Neurology studied the consumption of beverages of people ages 50-71 over a ten-year span, and found that 11,311 participants received diagnosis for depression.
The study was funded by National Institutes of Health, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the National Cancer Institute. The U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that one in 10 adults have the mood disorder.
Researchers will also present the findings at the American Academy of Neurology's 65th Annual Meeting in San Diego, March 16-23, 2013.
Sources: Bloomberg; ABCNews
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