Carbonated soft drinks and carbonyl stress burden

Carbonated soft drinks reportedly contain methylglyoxal (MG), which is strongly associated with human carbonyl stress. We sought to evaluate the effects of carbonated drink intake on human carbonyl stress. We measured MG levels in 4 commercial beverage brands, and evaluated the changes in plasma MG in healthy subjects following the intake of carbonated drinks. By 30 min after intake of samples containing high glucose and high MG, the levels of plasma MG, glucose, insulin and uric acid had increased significantly, and then returned to basal levels by 120 min. After intake of the low-calorie carbonated samples containing little MG, there were no increases in plasma MG. Our results suggest that glucose-containing carbonated soft drinks are associated with increases in not only glucose but also carbonyl burden.