In a nutshell
This study evaluated the association of sugar-sweetened beverages and artificially sweetened beverages with diabetes.
Some background
High sugar consumption, especially through sugar-sweetened beverages such as soft drinks, is a major cause of diabetes. However, the effects of different types of sugar-sweetened beverages (soft drinks, sweetened-milk beverages, sweetened tea/coffee), fruit juice, and artificially sweetened beverages (diet soft drinks), has not yet been thoroughly investigated.
Methods & findings
The study analyzed beverage consumption among 25,639 adults. Participants were followed for an average of ten years. Eight-hundred and forty-seven cases of type 2 diabetes were diagnosed among participants during the follow-up period.
As expected, sweetened soft drink consumption was associated with a 21% risk increase for diabetes. Sweetened-milk beverages were associated with a 22% risk increase for diabetes. Interestingly, artificially sweetened beverages were associated with a similar risk increase. Regular consumption of sweetened tea/coffee or fruit juice was not found to be significantly associated with diabetes. Substituting sugar-sweetened beverages with artificially-sweetened beverages was not found to reduce the risk of diabetes. Substituting one serving of sugar-sweetened beverage a day with water or unsweetened tea/coffee was found to reduce the incidence of diabetes by 14% to 25%.
The bottom line
Artificially-sweetened beverages were not found to be suitable alternatives to sugar-sweetened beverages with regards to diabetic risk.
The fine print
Further high-grade studies as to the effect of artificially-sweetened beverages among diabetics are needed.
Published By :
Diabetologia
Date :
May 06, 2015
