In a 2019 study published in Diabetes Care, researchers evaluated the associations between long term consumption of sugary beverages and the risk of type 2 diabetes. These sugary beverages included both sugar-sweetened beverages, (SSBs) artificially sweetened beverages (ASBs) as well as 100% fruit juice.

After adjustment for BMI and lifestyle covariates, the study found that:

Increasing total sugary beverage intake by as little as a half serving a day was associated with a 16% increased risk of diabetes over the next 4 years.

To conduct this large cohort study, the researchers followed up with 76,531 participants in the Nurses’ Health Study plus and additional 81,597 participants in the Nurses’ Health Study 2. They also included 34,224 men in the Health Professionals’ Follow-up Study. Since these studies were ongoing since 1986 so there was plenty of data to crunch.

The researchers specifically looked at the change in sugary beverage consumption from the food questionnaires the participants received every four years. They found that when the total consumption of sugary beverages increased there was a 16-18% higher risk of type 2 diabetes.

The opposite was proven to be true as well: replacing one daily serving of a sugary beverage with coffee, water or tea but not an (ASB) was associated with a 2-10% lower risk of diabetes.

This extensive study demonstrates that regardless of the type of sugar-sweetened beverage, the risk of diabetes increases with each SSB consumed.

To read more about this study click here

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