Increased risk of type 2 diabetes associated with sugar-sweetened drinks

It’s been shown in the US.

Now, researchers from Imperial College London and the InterAct consortium report an association with type 2 diabetes in Europeans who drink sugar-sweetened soft drinks.

First, the details.

• 12,403 type 2 diabetes cases were compared with a randomly chosen group of 16,154 non-diabetics.

And, the results.

• After adjusting for confounding factors, drinking 1, 12-ounce (336 mL) serving of sugar-sweetened soft drink per day increased the risk of type 2 diabetes 22%.
  • This increased risk fell to 18% when total energy intake and body-mass index (BMI) were accounted for.
• Drinking pure fruit juice and nectar wasn’t significantly associated with the incidence of diabetes.
  • It wasn’t possible, using the data available, to study the effect of 100% pure juices vs those with added sugars.

The bottom line?

The authors concluded, “This study corroborates the previously reported increase in type 2 diabetes risk associated with sugar-sweetened soft drink consumption that seems to be independent of BMI.”

An earlier meta-analysis of data from 11 studies (9 from the US) reported that regular consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages is consistently associated with an increased risk of metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes.

Specifically, drinking 2 sugar-sweetened drinks per day increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes 26% and increases the risk of metabolic syndrome 20% compared with drinking less than 1 sugary drink per month. Drinking 1, 12-ounce serving per day increased the risk of type 2 diabetes by about 15%.

Still unclear, however, how much of a difference New York Mayor Bloomberg’s now banned ban on large (greater than 25 calories per 8-ounce) sugary drinks would have had.

4/26/13 9:04 JR