One can of soda a day makes you substantially more prone to diabetes, strokes: Study

Monday, May 13, 2013 by: Jonathan Benson, staff writer
Tags: soda consumption, diabetes risk, obesity

(NaturalNews) Drinking as little as one can of soda pop per day is enough to increase your risk of both type 2 diabetes and stroke by a significant percentage, according to a new study out of Europe. Based on an analysis involving about 27,000 people who were surveyed on their health and dietary habits, researchers determined that over the course of 16 years, those who drank just one soda a day were 18 percent more likely than others to either develop type 2 diabetes or suffer a stroke.

Published in the journal Diabetologia, the study analyzed data on about 12,000 people who developed type 2 diabetes between 1991 and 2007, as well as data on a randomly selected group of roughly 15,000 people without the condition. Researchers then compared data they collected from a survey on soda consumption patterns among all the participants with their respective health outcomes, and adjusted these findings to take into account outside risk factors such as age, physical activity levels, body mass index (BMI) and total daily calorie intake.

After refining the data in accordance with generally accepted standards, the research team determined that the risk factors for both type 2 diabetes and stroke jumped by nearly 20 percent over a 16-year period. These findings correspond with a similar study conducted in the U.S. several years ago that linked daily soda consumption with a 25 percent increased risk of type 2 diabetes.

"In European men and women, one 12-ounce daily increment in sugar-sweetened soft drink consumption was associated with a 22 percent increase in hazard ratio [sic] for type 2 diabetes," wrote Dr. Dora Romaguera from Imperial College London and her colleagues from the InterAct consortium in their paper. This percentage was adjusted to 18 percent after taking into accounts BMI and caloric intake, according to FoodNavigator.com.

"[This study] adds to a growing global literature suggesting that there is a link between consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, obesity and risk of development of type 2 diabetes," added Prof. Nick Wareham from the University of Cambridge, who also contributed to the study. "Together with observations from randomized controlled trials, this observation suggests that consumption of these beverages should be limited as part of an overall healthy diet."

Diet soda consumption also linked to type 2 diabetes

So-called "sugar-sweetened" beverages were not the only processed beverages to be linked to diabetes, however. Based on data from the same survey, participants who drank artificially-sweetened beverages laced with chemicals like aspartame (Sweet'N Low) and sucralose (Splenda) were also found to have an elevated risk of type 2 diabetes compared to participants who drank no soda at all.

According to another study published in the journal Diabetes Care, people who drink at least one can of diet soda a day have a 67 percent increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes compared to people who drink no soda at all. "Zero-calorie" chemical sodas were also linked to significantly increasing the risk factors associated with metabolic syndrome, a classification of risk factors linked to obesity that increase a person's risk of developing not only diabetes and stroke but also heart disease.

"Contrary to conventional thinking, the risk of diabetes is higher with 'light' beverages compared with 'regular' sweetened drinks," said the National Institute of Health and Medical Research following the release of a French study earlier this year that also linked diet soda consumption to diabetes.

Sources for this article include:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com

http://www.foodnavigator.com

http://www.rodale.com/diet-soda-and-diabetes

https://www.naturalnews.com/028340_diabetes_sodas.html

http://www.nydailynews.com