A research has shown that the consumption of sugary-soda by men plays a role in the progression of the osteoarthritis of their knee. The research was done on a sample of 2000 people and there was no link found between sugary-soda and osteoarthritis in women.
The researcher Bing Lu, MD stated that their finding shows that the more a man drinks soda with sugar in it, the greater the chances their knee osteoarthritis worsens. You might think this might be due to the fact that sugary-soda has a lot of calories that contributes to increasing the weight of the person. Research shows that is not accurate. Obesity due to calorie intake is not the sole reason why the osteoarthritis is worsening in that particular case.
Lu explained that the weight of the men under study was taken into account right from the beginning of the research. Even the body-mass index was taken into consideration. After distinguishing between the men that were obese and those that were not, they realized that the theory about the worsening of the knee by drinking of sugary-soda still held true. So it is clear that the worse pain felt in this experiment was not due to wear or tear on the joints because of the excess weight.
Procedure for the study
Exactly a total of 2,149 individuals made of men and women were chosen for this study. They all had X-rays to have their knee examined. At the beginning of the research the participants were requested to fill a form where they wrote down the number of soft drinks they take in average per week. The research lasted for 4 years and each of these years, the researchers went on to track the osteoarthritis progression by measuring the space in between the joints. Not only that, the body-mass index was also recorded.
They found out that men who drank 5 or more soft drinks each week turned out to have the space between the joint narrowing twice much more compared to men that did not drink sugary-soda.
The disease osteoarthritis
Bones in the human body are connected through joints. Those joints are made of a tissue called cartilage that acts as a shock absorber and reduces friction between the bones connected. When a person has osteoarthritis, those cartilages wear away on certain areas. The fact that the cartilage is wearing away is what is causing the pain in the joints.
A 2007 study has shown that in average 14% of men and 19% of women around the age of 45 suffer from joint pain, stiffness and other symptoms suggesting they suffer from knee osteoarthritis. Apart from obesity, there are other risk factors like old age and prior knee injuries.
What men can do about that
There are other options for men that still want to drink soda. You just have to avoid sugary-soda and go for sugar-free soda. Osteoarthritis is not directly linked to the consumption of soda, so you might might also want to watch your overall diet instead of focusing on only one component.
