Excess of Sugar-Sweetened Soft Drinks Linked to Elevated Risk of Type 2 Diabetes

A latest European study suggests that drinking one extra sugar-sweetened soft drink a day increases the person's risk of developing type 2 diabetes by nearly 22 percent, according to Imperial College News.

The study, published in Diabetologia, the journal of European Association for the Study of Diabetes, was conducted by Dr. Dora Romaguera at the Imperial College London along with researchers from the InterAct consortium.

In order to prove the hypothesis, the researchers worked on data that consisted of 350,000 people who belonged to eight different European countries. The data was taken from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) and the InterAct consortium. The researchers focused on the intake of sugar-sweetened soft drinks and artificially-sweetened soft drinks. 

The researchers noticed that every 33 ml sugar-sweetened soft drink consumed per day increased the risk of type 2 diabetes by 22 percent. After considering the total energy intake and BMI, the risk level dropped to 18 percent. This indicates that the effect of sugar-sweetened soft drink on diabetes goes beyond the effect on body weight.

Drinking artificially-sweetened soft drinks had a significant increase in type 2 diabetes, but this link vanished after researchers considered the BMI of the person.

On the other hand, consuming fruit juice or nectar did not have any association with type 2 diabetes.

The study matched the results of the previous North American studied which showed that consumption of 12 oz of sugar-sweetened drinks daily was linked to a 25 percent elevated risk of type 2 diabetes.

"Given the increase in sweet beverage consumption in Europe, clear messages on its deleterious effect on health should be given to the population," Dr. Romaguera and colleagues were quoted as saying in BBC.