Soda Raises Diabetes Risk

With data collected on US subjects suggesting a link between sugary drink consumption and type-2 diabetes, The InterAct consortium reports similar findings among the European population.  Dora Romaguera-Bosch, from Imperial College London (United Kingdom), and colleagues at the InterAct consortium, studied associations between consumption of juices, nectars, sugar-sweetened soft drinks, and artificially-sweetened soft drinks with diabetes incidence among 15,374 participants from eight European countries involved in the EPIC (European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition)-InterAct study – including 11,684 incident cases of diabetes.  Subjects were surveyed as to dietary intake, energy intake and beverage consumption habits – with sugary drink consumption measured in tiers that included less than one glass monthly, one to four glasses monthly, more than one to six glasses weekly, and one or more glasses daily. The researchers observed that soft drink consumption was linked with diabetes incidence: one or more glasses (12 ounces [354 mL]) daily of soft drink associated with a 58% increased risk of diabetes as compared with those who consumed the lowest levels of soft drinks.  The study authors submit that: “This study corroborates the association between increased incidence of type 2 diabetes and high consumption of sugar-sweetened soft drinks.”