New evidence suggests that consuming one can of sugar-sweetened soft drink per day could increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 22%.
The drinking habits of approximately 30,000 European adults from eight countries were examined as a part of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer-InterAct study. Published in Diabetologia, the study aimed to investigate if the consumption of sweet beverages including fruit juices and artificially sweetened soft drinks was associated with an increased incidence of type 2 diabetes.
The authors found that consuming 336mL (12 oz) of sugar-sweetened beverage, which is equivalent to just one can of soft drink, increased the risk of type 2 diabetes onset by 22%, even after adjusting for variables such as BMI and energy intake. Daily consumption of fruit juice or artificially sweetened drinks, however, was not associated with an elevated diabetes risk.
These findings support previous research from American populations, which also report an association between sugary drink consumption and diabetes risk.
The study lead, Dr Dora Romaguera from Imperial College London, said: “Given the increase in sweet beverage consumption in Europe, clear messages on the unhealthy effect of these drinks should be given to the population.”
Nonetheless, further investigation is needed to determine the influence of weight gain on this association. At present, it is not known if sugary drinks cause a rise in diabetes risk because of their effect on weight gain, or because of their high glycaemic index, which induces rapid changes in glucose and insulin that can lead to insulin resistance.
Dr Matthew Hobbs, Head of Research at Diabetes UK, said: “The finding that people who drank more sugar-sweetened soft drinks were at higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes, even when BMI was taken into account, suggests the increased risk was not solely due to the extra calories in those drinks.
“The large number of people involved in this study means this finding is extremely unlikely to have happened by chance. Even so, it is not definitive evidence that sugar-sweetened soft drinks increase the risk of type 2 diabetes, other than through their effect on body weight.
“We do, though, already recommend limiting consumption of sugary foods and drinks as these are usually high in calories and so can lead to weight gain if you have too many of them. This is important for type 2 diabetes because we know that maintaining a healthy weight is the single most important thing you can do to prevent it.”
