The Medical Research Council Epidemiology Unit at the University of Cambridge, UK found that for every 5% increase in daily energy intake that is provided by sweet drinks, such as soft drinks and artificially sweetened beverages, the risk of type 2 diabetes could increase by up to 18%.
The study adds further important evidence to the recommendation from the World Health Organization to limit the intake of free sugars in our diet.
Substantial observational evidence supports an association between the consumption of sugar sweetened beverages and type 2 diabetes, yet previous research has often relied on the use of food frequency questionnaires.
For the study, the researchers recorded the beverage consumption of 25,639 adults in the UK participating in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) Norfolk Study. Participants were 40-79 years old, and none had diabetes at the start of the study.
To measure beverage consumption, the participants recorded everything that they ate and drank for a period of 7 consecutive days. Specific attention was paid to the types of beverages consumed by the participants, the amounts and frequencies by which they were consumed and whether they added any sugar to their drinks.
The participants were followed up for approximately 11 years after completing the dietary assessments. During this time, 847 of the participants were diagnosed with new-onset type 2 diabetes.
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