Light drinks diabetes due to sweetener

Sweetener-containing drinks are unhealthier than sweetened soft drinks

02/09/2013

Sweetener-containing drinks increase the risk of diabetes more than drinks with ordinary sugar. This was the result of a French study by the medical research institute INSERM. Accordingly, should „Light“-Drinks be unhealthier than sweetened sodas.

1.5 liters „Light“-Drinks per week increase diabetes risk by 59 percent
The French scientists Françoise Clavel-Chapelon and Guy Fagherazzi analyzed the data of 66,188 women since 1993. At intervals of two to three years, the subjects were questioned about their dietary habits. It turns out that consumers of sweetened as well as sugar-free soft drinks had a higher diabetes risk than women who preferred unsweetened fruit juices. The comparison of sweetened and sweetener-containing sodas showed a higher risk of diabetes in consumers of „Light“-Drinks: Women who consumed half a liter of soft drinks per week had a 15 percent increase in risk: at one and a half liters a week, the risk even rose to 59 percent. The evaluation of data from women who drank freshly squeezed fruit juices did not indicate an increased risk of diabetes. Their study results published the researchers in the US periodical magazine „Journal of Clinical Nutrition“.

Sweetener aspartame may increase the risk of diabetes
A possible cause of the increased risk of diabetes could be the sweetener aspartame, which in many „Light“-Drinks is included. Aspartame leads to an increase in blood sugar levels, which results in an increase in insulin and can lead to insulin resistance and thus to diabetes. Thus, sweetener could have an effect similar to sugar. However, further investigations would have to be carried out to clarify the connection between „Light“-Detecting drinks and increased diabetes risk, the researchers admitted.

The aspartame identified as food additive E 951 has been suspected for some years to have a harmful effect. Thus, the development of cancer, headaches and discomfort associated with the sweetener. However, clear results are not available according to previous findings. A June 2005 by Fondazione Europea di oncologia e scienze ambientali „Bernardino Ramazzini“ (European Foundation for Oncology and Environmental Research „Bernardo Ramazzini“) is intended to demonstrate a direct link between the intake of aspartame and cancers. A US National Cancer Institute study published in April 2006 concluded that the sweetener has no leukemia or brain tumor promoting effects. (Ag)

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Picture: Andi-h