If you’re the type of person to crack open a diet soft drink at 3 p.m. when you’re looking for a pick-me-up without the calories, a new study says that this daily habit might be doing more harm than you think.
New Australian research has found that knocking back just one artificially sweetened soft drink a day, like Diet Coke, Pepsi Max or Zero Sugar Solo, may increase your risk of developing type 2 diabetes by a staggering 38%.
Surprisingly, that’s an even higher risk than those opting for classic full-sugar options, which were linked to a 23% rise.
Professor Barbora de Courten, senior author on the study, told news.com.au that the findings signal a need to rethink current public health strategies.
“It might be time to broaden the policy discussion not just about taxing sugar, but about reducing population-level intake of all harmful beverages, regardless of whether they’re sweetened with sugar or synthetic alternatives,” said Professor de Courten, who is also a specialist physician at the Department of Diabetes & Vascular Medicine.
Sugar, artificial beverages, and type 2 diabetes
The longitudinal study, conducted by a team from Monash University, RMIT University and the Cancer Council Victoria, followed more than 36,000 Australian adults over nearly 14 years.
“Drinking one or more of these beverages each day – whether sweetened with sugar or artificial substitutes – was linked to a significantly higher chance of developing type 2 diabetes,” said Mr Hussen Kabthymer, who was involved in the study.
Professor de Courten said the findings challenge the common belief that artificially sweetened drinks are a better option.
“Artificial sweeteners often recommended to people at risk of diabetes as a healthier alternative, but our results suggest they may pose their own health risks,” she said.
While the connection between sugary drinks and diabetes could mostly be explained by obesity, the connection between diet soft drinks and type 2 diabetes stayed strong even after factoring in body weight, suggesting that these drinks might directly affect how our metabolism works.
“The study, which involved participants aged 40–69 years, also adjusted for other lifestyle factors such as diet, exercise, education, and health history.
What is type 2 diabetes?
Type 2 diabetes impacts about 1.3 million Australians and over 500 million people globally, with most cases related to diet and lifestyle.
It is a chronic condition where the body either can’t properly use insulin or doesn’t produce enough of it, causing blood sugar levels to rise.
According to Diabetes Australia, it usually develops in adults over 45, but is increasingly occurring in younger age groups.
Over time, uncontrolled type 2 diabetes can damage the eyes, kidneys, nerves and heart, and lead to serious complications like kidney failure, vision loss and heart disease.
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