Who’s Got Your Heart?

February is national Heart Month,designated by the Centers for Disease Control for an increased awareness about the health of our most vital organ. One major corporation has gotten behind heart health recently, and I want to call into question the duplicity of their campaign. The company I’m speaking of is Coca Cola and their recent Diet Coke and the Heart Truth campaign. This is pulled directly from the campaign, under the headline The Heart Truth – We Heart Women: “Did you know that heart disease is the #1 killer of women? It affects 8.6 million women each year, and one-third of women underestimate their own risk for heart disease. For five years, Diet Coke® has been a passionate supporter of The Heart Truth® campaign to help raise heart disease awareness and to help women get heart smart.”

Now I am all for Coca Cola and Diet Coke empowering women, and everyone, with information about heart health. Increasing awareness of the dangers of not taking care of your heart is important because the following statistics are alarming:

• Heart disease is the #1 killer of American women.
• More women die of heart disease than from all forms of cancer combined.
• Women’s risk of heart disease usually starts to increase in middle age.
• About 3 million American women have had a heart attack.

However, is the same company that’s pulling the fire alarm also throwing gasoline on the flames?

A study published by the American College of Cardiology in March 2014, analyzed diet drink intake and cardiovascular risk of 59,614 women who participated in the Women’s Health Initiative Observational Study. The study, linked here, revealed several pertinent pieces of information such as a 30% increase of a cardiovascular event, for women who consumed two or more diet drinks a day compared to those who drank no diet drinks. The study also was in line with previous studies associating consumption of diet drinks with an increased risk of metabolic syndrome and diabetes.

Again I applaud Coca Cola for sounding the alarm about the dangers of heart disease in America, but I condemn them for creating these cans and the illusion that diet coke can reduce the risk of heart disease in women, when the facts clearly state this is not the case. If someone you know drinks more than two diet drinks a day please share this with them, and if you are concerned about your heart health, I recommend the supplement SmartQ10 CoQ10. It is one of the top recommended supplements by cardiologists worldwide. If you have any thoughts or questions please leave a comment to add to the discussion below. As always you can contact me by filling out the contact form or clicking on the Ask Dr. Phil Microphone on the screen. I look forward to hearing from you!

Healthy Blessings,

Dr. Phil

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