Regardless of weight, people who consume soda or sugary drinks daily are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes, HealthDay reported.
A study led by researchers at the University of Cambridge found that for each 5 percent increased of a person's total energy intake provided by sweet drinks, the risk of developing type 2 diabetes may increase by as much as 18 percent over a 10 year period.
For the study, researchers looked at 17 studies on beverage consumption and the development of type 2 diabetes that involved more than 38,200 people, Forbes reported.
Researchers found that there was an approximately 22 percent increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes per extra serving per day habitually of each of soft drinks, sweetened milk beverages and artificially sweetened beverages consumed, but that consumption of fruit juice and sweetened tea or coffee was not related to diabetes.
After further accounting for body mass index and waist girth as markers of obesity, there remained a higher risk of diabetes associated with consumption of both soft drinks and sweetened milk drinks, but the link with artificially sweetened beverages consumption no longer remained, likely explained by their greater consumption by those who were already overweight or obese.
Researchers also found that replacing a habitual daily serving of soft drinks with water or unsweetened tea or coffee could cut the risk of diabetes by 14 percent.
"The good news is that our study provides evidence that replacing a habitual daily serving of a sugary soft drink or sugary milk drink with water or unsweetened tea or coffee can help to cut the risk of diabetes, offering practical suggestions for healthy alternative drinks for the prevention of diabetes," Nita Foroughi, who led the study, said in a statement. "This adds further important evidence to the recommendation from the World Health Organization to limit the intake of free sugars in our diet."
The findings are detailed in the journal Diabetologia.
