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Acute Effects of Sugar‐Sweetened Beverage Consumption on Reactive Hyperemia in Young, Healthy Humans

Recent studies have reported that chronic consumption of sugar‐sweetened beverages (SSBs) is associated with greater cardiovascular disease prevalence including hypertension, stroke and myocardial infarction. However, there are limited reports regarding the effects of acute consumption of SSBs on vascular function. Reactive hyperemia (RH) has been identified as a relevant test of microvascular function that is associated with cardiovascular disease risk. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that consumption of an SSB would acutely impair microvascular responses, as tested by the RH protocol. Eight young healthy subjects were given 24 fluid ounces of placebo (water) or SSB (68g mixture of fructose and dextrose mimicking the composition of high fructose corn syrup, diluted in water). The order of drinks was counterbalanced between experimental visits. Prior to, immediately after, and 1 hour post‐beverage consumption, venous occlusion plethysmography was used to measure the forearm blood flow (FBF) during baseline and post‐ischemia (5 min) RH conditions. Whole blood [glucose] was determined via finger‐stick samples and rapid glucometry. Heart rate (HR; ECG) and blood pressure (BP; automatic sphygmomanometry) were monitored throughout the experiment. SSB consumption increased whole blood [glucose] from pre‐beverage (68±3 vs 104±6 mg/dl) whereas the placebo did not (69±3 vs 72±3 mg/dl). After 1 hour post‐beverage, [glucose] was near pre‐beverage values for both SSB (76±5 mg/dl) and placebo (75±4 mg/dl) conditions. A small decrease in peak RH FBF was observed 1 hour post‐SSB (27.6±2 vs 31.0±2.7 ml/dl/min; p=0.05); however, no other significant changes were observed. Interestingly, the dynamic response of the RH was altered such that the area of the curve (AUC) was slightly greater 1 hour post‐SSB vs immediately after beverage consumption (104.0±17 vs 84.5±17 ml). Increased systolic and diastolic BP was observed in the SSB condition following the drink and this persisted 1 hour post‐beverage. In general, HR was unchanged across all conditions. These findings indicate that young, healthy humans maintain microvascular functioning, as measured by RH following acute consumption of an SSB. Future studies should address at‐risk populations as well as whether chronic SSB consumption directly attenuates RH responses.