Diabetes through Light lemonade?

Artificially sweetened drinks increase the risk of diabetes

02/10/2013

Süßstofhaltige „Light“- and „diet“-Drinks increase the risk of diabetes. Scientist of the French „Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale“ (INSERM) have teamed up with Brazilian researchers from the University of Sao Paulo and Mexican experts of the „National Institute of Public Health of Mexico“ It has been found that not only sugar but also the sweeteners used as substitutes result in an increased risk of type 2 diabetes.

Previous studies have „sugar-sweetened beverages are associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, but less is known about the effects of artificially sweetened beverages“, The researchers report to Françoise Clavel-Chapelon and Guy Fagherazzi from the INSERM in the journal „Journal of Clinical Nutrition“. Their studies on the effects of sweetener-containing beverages on the risk of diabetes should provide information here. The result is alarming: The increase in the risk of diabetes falls in the „Light“- and „diet“-Drinks are sometimes even more evident than ordinary sugary drinks.

Connection between diabetes and beverage consumption?
In their study, the researchers analyzed the data collected since 1993 from 66,188 women born between 1925 and 1950. For the past twenty years, women have been asked about their dietary habits every two years in order to derive possible relationships. The researchers recorded the consumption of sugary drinks, artificially sweetened drinks and pure fruit juice compared with the risk of diabetes. According to the scientists, 1,369 study participants were diagnosed with type 2 diabetes during the study period. Clavel-Chapelon, Fagherazzi and colleagues used the so-called Cox regression model to calculate the relationship between diabetes and the consumption of different beverages.

Drastic increase in diabetes risk
The risk of type 2 diabetes was significantly higher in women with the highest intake of sugary or sweetener drinks than in non-women, the researchers write. Study participants who consumed between 359 and 603 milliliters of artificially sweetened drinks per week were at around 15 percent more at risk for diabetes. At a consumption of 1.5 liters „Light“-Lemonade per week increases the risk of disease even by a worrying 59 percent. According to the researchers, the increase in the risk of diabetes was even higher with artificially sweetened beverages than with the sugar-containing showers. The consumption of pure fruit juice, however, had no effect on the risk of diabetes, the researchers continue.

Causal relationship so far not established
Why the artificially sweetened „Light“-Drinks bring such a drastic increase in the risk of type 2 diabetes is, according to the researchers so far unclear. A clear causal relationship is not yet established here. In other randomized studies, therefore, it must be clarified whether the artificially sweetened drinks are actually the cause of the increased diabetes risk or that other factors must be held responsible for the association with diabetes. However, the scientists already have a suspicion: The common sweetener aspartame could be the explanation for the increased risk of diabetes in their view. If taken regularly, there may be a risk of insulin resistance, which is the trigger for type 2 diabetes, explain Clavel-Chapelon, Fagherazzi and colleagues. However, they can not prove their assumption so far.

The current study is by no means the first to give any indication of a harmful effect of artificially sweetened beverages. Earlier research had already shown that the artificial sweeteners partly increase appetite and thereby stimulate an increase in food intake, which leads to an increased risk of overweight and obesity. (Fp)

Also read:
Light drinks: diabetes due to sweetener

Image: Benjamin Klack