Girls who are reaching puberty must regulate their intake of sugary drinks as a new study has discovered that those who frequently consume such drinks are tend to start their menstrual periods earlier than their counterparts who do not preferring consuming them much.
The main idea of the researchers was to find out the association between the age at which girls undergo their first menstruation period and their frequent or high consumption of drinks sweetened with added sugar.
For the new study, the team of researchers looked at 5,583 girls in the United States who were between age group 9 and 14 years. All the study participants were followed from 1996 to 2001 to find out the changes related to puberty in them.
During the mentioned period, it was found that the girls who consumed over 1.5 servings of such drinks a day had their first period 2.7 months in advance than those who took two or fewer drinks a week.
“The major concern is about childhood obesity but our study suggests that age of first menstruation occurred earlier, independently of body mass index, among girls with the highest consumption of drinks sweetened with added sugar,” said study lead author Karin Michels, who is also an associate professor at Harvard Medical School.
Explaining the findings, the health experts said such drinks with added sugar contain high glycemic index concentration, which is otherwise absent in the naturally sweetened drinks, such as fruit juices.
The researchers further explained that the foods with high-glycemic index contributed in a rapid increase in the concentration of body’s insulin.
Higher concentrations of insulin trigger the secretion of sex hormones at higher rate. This higher alteration in the concentrations of sex hormones further triggers the early onset of periods.
The health experts say they have also found a greater association between increased intake of caffeine and earlier menstruation periods.
The study was conducted by the researchers at the Harvard Medical School.
