Sugar-Sweetened Drinks Linked to Diabetes
SUGAR-SWEETENED, BUT NOT DIET DRINKS LINKED TO DIABETES
A study has confirmed prior research showing an increased risk of diabetes type 2 from consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and has finally clarified the previously unclear relationship between artificially sweetened drinks and diabetes by showing no greater risk when confounding factors are excluded.
Compared to people who fall into the lowest quarter of consumption, those in the highest quarter of sugar-sweetened beverage intake showed a 25 percent greater risk of diabetes 2; when other confounding factors were excluded, the risk remained 24 percent higher.
Compared to the lowest intake quartile, those in the highest intake quartile of artificially-sweetened beverages showed a higher diabetes risk before adjustment; but when confounding factors were excluded, the risk dropped to statistically insignificant. (Confounding factors are those that could increase or lower the risk and therefore, skew the results; examples include multivitamin use, family history of the disease, health status, dieting, body mass index and other factors.)
Beverages classified
as sugar-sweetened included lemonade, fruit punches and fruit drinks.
Released March 23, 2011 by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, this study will appear in a future issue but is available now at http://bit.ly/fOJIZs.
Cardiometabolic Risks
SUGAR-SWEETENED BEVERAGES LINKED TO RISKS OF DIABETES AND CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE
A new study suggests that sugar-sweetened drinks may play a role in cardiometabolic risk. Cardiometabolic risk is a constellation of health factors that may raise the risk of diabetes 2 and cardiovascular disease.
Researchers examined the relation between cardiometabolic risk factors and low-fat milk, whole-fat milk, fruit juice and sugar-sweetened beverages. Whole milk consumption was associated with a reduced risk of high triglycerides. But sugar-sweetened drinks were linked to high triglycerides, high LDL, or “bad,” cholesterol, high blood pressure and high waist circumference – all risk factors for diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
While the study did not prove a cause-and-effect relation, the study team suggested recommendations to limit the consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks to help reduce these risk factors.
This study was released August 11, 2010 but will not be published in print until a future issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. It is available online now at http://bit.ly/aUOxQJ.
