High consumption of soft drinks increases the risk of heart disease and diabetes

This study was published in Circulation 2007 Jul 31;116(5):480-8

Study title and authors:

Soft drink consumption and risk of developing cardiometabolic risk factors and the metabolic syndrome in middle-aged adults in the community.

Dhingra R, Sullivan L, Jacques PF, Wang TJ, Fox CS, Meigs JB, D'Agostino RB, Gaziano JM, Vasan RS.

Framingham Heart Study, 73 Mount Wayte Ave, Suite 2, Framingham, MA 01702-5803, USA.

This study can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17646581

Metabolic syndrome is the name for a group of risk factors that raises your risk for heart disease and other health problems, such as diabetes and stroke. 

Metabolic syndrome was defined as the presence of three or more of the following: 

(i) Waist circumference more than 35 inches (women) or more than 40 inches (men).

(ii) Fasting blood glucose levels more than 100 mg/dL (5.5 mmol/l).

(iii) Triglycerides levels more than 150 mg/dL (1.69 mmol/l).

(iv) Blood pressure more than 135/85 mm Hg.

(v) High-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol less than 40 mg/dL (1.03 mmol/l) (men) or less than 50 mg/dL (1.29 mmol/l) (women). 

This study investigated the incidence of metabolic syndrome and its components to soft drink consumption in 6.039 person-observations (average age 52.9 years) who were free of metabolic syndrome at the start of the study.

The study found that compared to those who drank less than one soft drink per day:

(a) Those who drank one or more soft drinks a day had a 31% increased risk of obesity.

(b) Those who drank one or more soft drinks a day had a 30% increased risk in having a bigger waist circumference.  

(c) Those who drank one or more soft drinks a day had a 25% increased risk of high fasting glucose levels.

(d) Those who drank one or more soft drinks a day had a 18% increased risk of high blood pressure.

(e) Those who drank one or more soft drinks a day had a 25% increased risk of elevated triglyceride levels.

(f) Those who drank one or more soft drinks a day had a 32% increased risk of low levels of the beneficial high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol.

(g) Those who drank one or more soft drinks a day had a 44% increased risk of developing metabolic syndrome.

This study reveals that in middle-aged adults, soft drink consumption is associated with a higher incidence of metabolic syndrome and therefore a raised risk of health problems such as heart disease, stroke and diabetes.

Links to other studies:
Drinking cola is associated with a 87% increased risk for development of type 2 diabetes
Cola and other soft drinks increase the risk of diabetes by 24%
Both sugar-sweetened and artificially sweetened drinks increase the risk type II diabetes

Frequent intake of soft drinks and juice is associated with an increased risk for development of type II diabetes

This study was published in the American Journal of Epidemiology 2010 Mar 15;171(6):701-8

Study title and authors:

Soft drink and juice consumption and risk of physician-diagnosed incident type 2 diabetes: the Singapore Chinese Health Study.

Odegaard AO, Koh WP, Arakawa K, Yu MC, Pereira MA.

University of Minnesota, Minneapolis,Minnesota, USA. odeg0025@umn.edu

This study can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20160170

This five year study examined the association between soft drinks and juice and the risk of type II diabetes in 43,580 participants aged 45-74 years who were free of diabetes and other chronic diseases at the start of the study.

The study found:
(a) Those who consumed 2 or more soft drinks per week had a 42% increased risk of type II diabetes compared to those who almost never consumed soft drinks.
(b) Those who consumed 2 or more juice drinks per week had a 29% increased risk of type II diabetes compared to those who almost never consumed juice drinks.

This study shows that frequent intake of soft drinks and juice is associated with an increased risk for development of type II diabetes.

Links to other studies:
Drinking cola is associated with a 87% increased risk for development of type 2 diabetes
Cola and other soft drinks increase the risk of diabetes by 24%
Both sugar-sweetened and artificially sweetened drinks increase the risk type II diabetes

Sweetened beverages and soft drinks increase type II diabetes risk by 69%

This study was published in the Journal of Nutrition 2007 Jun;137(6):1447-54

Study title and authors:
Consumption of sweetened beverages and intakes of fructose and glucose predict type 2 diabetes occurrence.

Montonen J, Järvinen R, Knekt P, Heliövaara M, Reunanen A.
National Public Health Institute, Helsinki FIN, Finland. jukka.montonen@ktl.fi

This study can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17513405

This study investigated the role of intakes of different sugars and beverages in the development of type II diabetes. The study lasted for 12 years and included 4,304 men and women aged 40-60 years who were free of diabetes at the start of the study.

Different types of sugar had the following effects on the incidence of type II diabetes:
(a) Those with the highest fructose consumption had a 90% increased risk of type II diabetes compared to those with the lowest fructose consumption.
(b) Those with the highest glucose consumption had a 91% increased risk of type II diabetes compared to those with the lowest glucose consumption.
(c) Those with the highest total sugar consumption had a 56% increased risk of type II diabetes compared to those with the lowest total consumption.

Different types of food and drink had the following effects on the incidence of type II diabetes:
(d) Those who consumed the most jam and marmalade had a 39% increased risk of type II diabetes compared to those who consumed the least jam and marmalade.
(e) Those who consumed the most sweetened berry juice had a 69% increased risk of type II diabetes compared to those who consumed the least sweetened berry juice.
(f) Those who consumed the most soft drinks had a 67% increased risk of type II diabetes compared to those who consumed the least soft drinks.

The findings of the study support the view that higher intake of fructose and glucose and sweetened beverages may increase type II diabetes risk.

Both sugar-sweetened and artificially sweetened drinks increase the risk type II diabetes

This study was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2011 Jun;93(6):1321-7

Study title and authors:

Sugar-sweetened and artificially sweetened beverage consumption and risk of type 2 diabetes in men.

de Koning L, Malik VS, Rimm EB, Willett WC, Hu FB.

Departments of Nutrition and Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.

This study can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21430119

The objective of the study was to examine the associations of sugar- and artificially sweetened drinks with  type II diabetes. A 20 year analysis of the  intakes of sugar-sweetened (sodas, fruit punches, lemonades, fruit drinks) and artificially sweetened (diet sodas, diet drinks) was performed on 40,389 men.

The study found:
(a) The men who consumed the most sugar-sweetened drinks had a 25% increased risk of developing type II diabetes compared with the men who consumed the least sugar-sweetened drinks.
(b) The men who consumed the most artificially sweetened drinks had a 91% increased risk of developing type II diabetes compared with the men who consumed the least artificially sweetened drinks.

This study shows that drinking both sugar-sweetened and artificially sweetened drinks increase the risk of type II diabetes.

Cola and other soft drinks increase the risk of diabetes by 24%

This study was published in the Archives of Internal Medicine 2008 Jul 28;168(14):1487-92

Study title and authors:
Sugar-sweetened beverages and incidence of type 2 diabetes mellitus in African American women.

Palmer JR, Boggs DA, Krishnan S, Hu FB, Singer M, Rosenberg L.
Slone Epidemiology Center, BostonUniversity, Boston, MA 02215, USA. jpalmer@slone.bu.edu

This study can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18663160

The objective of the study was to examine the association between consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and incidence of type 2 diabetes in African American women. The analyses included 43,960 women, with 338,884 person-years of follow-up, who gave dietary information and were free from diabetes at the start of the study. (One serving was defined as a 12-oz bottle or can).

The study found:
(a) Those women that drank two or more servings a day of orange or grapefruit juice had an 11% increased risk of type II diabetes compared to those women who drank less than one serving a month of orange or grapefruit juice.
(b) Those women that drank two or more servings a day of sugar-sweetened soft drinks had a 24% increased risk of type II diabetes compared to those women who drank less than one serving a month of sugar-sweetened soft drinks.
(c) Those women that drank two or more servings a day of sweetened fruit drinks had a 31% increased risk of type II diabetes compared to those women who drank less than one serving a month of sweetened fruit drinks.

This study shows that regular consumption of sugar-sweetened soft drinks and fruit drinks is associated with an increased risk of type II diabetes.

Drinking cola is associated with a 87% increased risk for development of type 2 diabetes

This study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association 2004 Aug 25;292(8):927-34

Study title and authors:
Sugar-sweetened beverages, weight gain, and incidence of type 2 diabetes in young and middle-aged women.

Schulze MB, Manson JE, Ludwig DS, Colditz GA, Stampfer MJ, Willett WC, Hu FB.
Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Mass, USA. mschulze@channing.harvard.edu

This study can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15328324

The objective of the study was to examine the association between consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and weight change and risk of type 2 diabetes in women. The study lasted for eight years and included 91,249 women free of diabetes and other major chronic diseases at the start of the trial. Altogether there was 716,300 person-years of follow-up.

The study found:

• Weight gain over a 4-year period was highest among women who increased their sugar-sweetened soft drink consumption from 1 or fewer drinks per week to 1 or more drinks per day (4.69 kg gain for 1991 to 1995 and 4.20 kg gain for 1995 to 1999).
• Weight gain over a 4-year period was smallest among women who decreased their sugar-sweetened soft drink consumption from 1 or more drinks per day to 1 or fewer drinks per week (1.34 kg gain for 1991 to 1995 and 0.15 kg gain for 1995 to 1999).
• Women consuming 1 or more sugar-sweetened soft drinks per day had a 83% increased risk of type 2 diabetes compared with those who consumed less than 1 of these beverages per month.
• Women consuming 1 or more sugar-sweetened cola drinks per day had a 87% increased risk of type 2 diabetes compared with those who consumed less than 1 of these beverages per month.
• Women consuming 1 or more fruit punch drinks per day had a 100% increased risk of type 2 diabetes compared with those who consumed less than 1 of these beverages per month.

Schulze concludes; "a higher consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages is associated with a greater magnitude of weight gain and an increased risk for development of type 2 diabetes in women."