Diabetes risk increases with consumption of more than two soft drinks daily

Emobileclinic Researchers Corners

Consumption of more than two soft drinks daily no matter the sugar contents increases the risk of developing diabetes according to findings of the some Swedish researchers whose work was published by the European journal of Endocrinology.

Type 2 diabetes occurs when cells in the body fail to effectively utilize the insulin hormone and thereby lead to rise in blood sugar levels. On the other hand, type 1 diabetes arises when the immune system unknowingly battle insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas resulting in little or no insulin secretion. LADA is a form of type 1 diabetes which develop slowly and prevalent around the ages of 30-50 years. It is believed to be an autoimmune disease like type 1, but also exhibits insulin resistance like type 2.

Earlier research has showed a link between high consumption of sugary drinks and type 2 diabetes; this effect has been mainly attributed to the weight gain linked to consumption of high sugary drink.
In this recent study, Josefin Edwall Löfvenborg and team decide to know whether artificially sweetened soft drinks might have the same effect and whether soft drink intake both sugary and artificially sweetened might affect the development of LADA.
About 2,874 Swedish adults, of whom 1,136 had type 2 diabetes, 357 had LADA, and 1,137 were healthy controls participated in the study. The team analyzed the self-reported dietary data of each adult seeking to know the number of soft drinks consumed up to 1 year before a diabetes diagnosis. They also measured the participants’ insulin resistance levels, beta cell function and autoimmune response.

The result showed that adults who took at least two 200-milliliter servings of soft drinks daily whether they contained sugar or artificial sweetener were twice as likely to develop LADA and 2.4 times more likely to have type 2 diabetes, compared with those who consumed fewer than two soft drinks daily.
More importantly, adults who consumed five 200-milliliter servings of soft drinks daily were discovered to be at 3.5 times greater risk of LADA and 10.5 times greater risk of type 2 diabetes, regardless of whether the drinks were sugary or artificially sweetened.

Löfvenborg expressed her surprise as follows:”one is that consumption of diet soft drinks may stimulate appetite and make us increase our food intake, especially sweet/sugary foods, possibly leading to overweight, which is a risk factor for diabetes,” and also that “another one is that artificial sweeteners may negatively affect the balance of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ species of microbes in the gut, which could lead to glucose intolerance.”
She added that “but even though there are suggested mechanisms that are plausible, I would like to point out that one other explanation to our findings for artificially sweetened beverages may be that some people have swapped from sugary to diet soft drinks in an attempt to prevent further weight gain/to lose weight.” She said further that “if that would be the case, it would mean that we are assessing the effect of previous intake of sugary drinks rather than the effect of diet soft drinks”.