[Tommi]

Soft Drink Consumption Tied To Increased Type 2 Diabetes Risk. Bloomberg News (4/25, Torsoli) reports, “Just one soft drink consumed daily can raise the risk of diabetes by 22 percent,” according to a study published April 24 in Diabetologia. The study found that “a mere 12 ounces serving size of sugar-sweetened soft drink a day may increase the chance of developing type 2 diabetes, the most common form of the disease.”

Reuters (4/25, Kelland) reports that researchers analyzed data from some 350,000 individuals in the UK, Denmark, Spain, Sweden, Italy, the Netherlands, France, and Germany who had provided information on the amount of naturally and artificially sweetened soft drinks consumed on a daily basis.

MyHealthNewsDaily (4/25, Rettner) reports, “In the study, people who drank a 12-ounce sugar-sweetened soda daily were 18 percent more likely to develop type 2 diabetes over a 16-year period compared with those who did not consume soda.” In addition, “people who drank two sodas daily were 18 percent more likely to have a stroke than those who drank one; those who drank three sodas daily saw the same risk increase compared with those who drank two, and so on.” Notably, “the results held even after the researchers took into account risk factors for type 2 diabetes, such as age and physical activity levels, body mass index (BMI) and the total daily calorie intake.”

MedPage Today (4/25, Petrochko) points out, “Compared with those who consumed lower levels of sugary soft drinks, high-level consumers were more likely to be male, physically active, less educated, smokers, and have a higher waist circumference,” whereas “juice and nectar high consumers were mostly younger, female, physically active, former smokers, and better educated than those with lower juice and nectar consumption.” Even though “soft drink consumption was linked with diabetes incidence, there was no association between diabetes and consumption of juices and nectars.”