Association of sweetened beverages consumption with all-cause mortality risk among Dutch adults: the Lifelines Cohort Study (the SWEET project)

Purpose: Examined associations between sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB), low/no-calorie beverages (LNCB), and fruit juice (FJ) consumption and all-cause mortality in Dutch adults. Methods: Data of 118,707 adults participating (mean age = 45 years; 60% was women) the Lifelines Cohort Study were prospectively analyzed. Dietary intake was assessed using a validated food-frequency questionnaire. Participants’ vital status was followed-up until February 2022 via the National Personal Records Database. Associations between beverages of interest and all-cause mortality risk were investigated using restricted cubic spline and Cox proportional hazard regression analyses, including substitution analyses. Models were adjusted for demographics, lifestyle, and other dietary factors. Results: During follow-up (median = 9.8 years), a total of 2852 (2.4%) deaths were documented. Median (IQR) of SSB, LNCB, and FJ consumption were 0.1 (0.0–0.6), 0.1 (0.0–0.6), and 0.2 (0.0–0.6) serving/day, respectively. Dose–response analyses showed linear associations between SSB, LNCB, and FJ consumption and mortality risk. For each additional serving of SSB and LNCB, HRs of all-cause mortality risk were 1.09 (95% CI 1.03–1.16) and 1.06 (95% CI 1.00–1.11). Replacing SSB with LNCB showed a nonsignificant association with a lower mortality risk, particularly in women (HR 0.91, 95% CI 0.81–1.01). Finally, an inverse association between FJ and all-cause mortality was observed at moderate consumption with HR of 0.87 (95% CI 0.79–0.95) for > 0–2 servings/week and HR of 0.89 (95% CI 0.81–0.98) for > 2–< 7 servings/week when compared to no consumption. Conclusions: Our study showed adverse associations between SSB consumption and all-cause mortality. Replacing SSB with LNCB might be associated with lower mortality risk, particularly in women. Moderate intake of FJ was associated with lower all-cause mortality risk.