Sweetened drinks linked to increased risk of irregular heartbeat – scientists

Drinks containing added sugar or artificial sweeteners may be associated with an increased risk of developing a heart condition that raises the risk of stroke, research suggests.

An analysis of data from more than 200,000 UK adults has found people who said they drank two litres of low-calorie drinks – with sweeteners such as sucralose, aspartame, saccharin or acesulfame – every week had a 20% higher risk of atrial fibrillation (AF), which causes irregular heartbeat.

And those who drank similar amounts