New study proves connection between 'soft drinks' and diabetes

A study has shown that replacing even one serving of a sugary drink a day with water or unsweetened tea or coffee can reduce our risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 14 to 25%.

According to data from the EPIC-Norfolk study, following a population-level analysis that first began in 1993, the dietary habits of over 25,000 people living in Norfolk, England were studied across a 11-year long span.

They were periodically checked on and their diets were reevaluated via 7-day food diaries. By the end, 847 people came down with type 2 diabetes.

According to the research authors,  “each 5 percent higher intake was associated with an 18 percent higher incidence of type 2 diabetes,”

As reported by MSN, the detailed cataloging of the participants’ diets allowed the authors to make more specific conclusions about the effects of certain sugary drinks, finding a link between sweetened milk beverages to type 2 diabetes that hadn’t been reported before.

However, fruit juice and sweetened tea or coffee consumption wasn’t connected to an uptake in diabetes, though they noted that juice drinkers tended to have better diets and be wealthier.

The study also further proved the long-held notion that sodas or 'soft drinks' as they're known in these parts are dangerous to health. The study said:

“We also report that replacing soft drinks and sweetened-milk beverages with artificially sweetened beverages did not reduce type 2 diabetes incidence, but drinking water or unsweetened tea or coffee as alternatives to soft drinks and sweetened-milk beverages lowered the incidence of type 2 diabetes significantly,”