Written by | Song grammar
Diabetes is a chronic disease that affects more than 460 million people worldwide. With the change of living and eating habits, diabetes has become the third major factor affecting human health after cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases and malignant tumors. In China, there are more than 114 million adults with diabetes, accounting for a quarter of the world's diabetics.
Early studies have shown that high consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages is associated with an increased risk of obesity and related diseases, cardiovascular disease, and death, but these studies have focused on the general population.
So, what drink should diabetics drink?
On April 19, 2023, researchers from Harvard University, Xi'an Jiaotong University, and Huazhong University of Science and Technology published a research paper titled "Beverage consumption and mortality among adults with type 2 diabetes: prospective cohort study" in The BMJ.
The study showed that for people with type 2 diabetes, high intake of sugar-sweetened beverages was associated with increased all-cause mortality and cardiovascular disease, while drinking coffee, tea, low-fat milk and plain water reduced the risk of all-cause mortality.
In the study, the researchers analyzed 15,486 participants in the Nurses' Health Study and Health Professionals Study cohort who were diagnosed with type 2 diabetes during baseline and follow-up, and collected participants' beverage intake in a questionnaire format, including sugary drinks, artificial sugar drinks, fruit juice, coffee, tea, low-fat milk, whole milk, plain water, and more. The relationship between the intake of specific types of beverages and mortality and cardiovascular disease incidence in people with type 2 diabetes was analyzed.
During an average follow-up period of 18.5 years, 3447 participants were recorded to develop cardiovascular disease and 7638 deaths.
The study found that higher intake of sugar-sweetened beverages increased participants' risk of all-cause mortality and cardiovascular disease. Compared with the lowest consumers of sugar-sweetened beverages, the highest consumers had a 20% increased risk of all-cause mortality, a 25% increased risk of cardiovascular disease, and a 29% increased risk of cardiovascular death.
Conversely, drinking coffee, tea, low-fat milk, and plain water was associated with a lower risk of death. Higher intake of coffee, tea, plain water and low-fat milk reduced the risk of death by 26%, 21%, 23% and 12%, respectively.
Further analysis found that the risk of all-cause mortality decreased nonlinearly with increased intake of coffee, tea, plain water, and low-fat milk, while the linear relationship between sugar-sweetened beverages and all-cause mortality was more intimate. Each additional serving of sugar-sweetened beverages per day increases the risk of all-cause death by 8%.
In addition, replacing sugar-sweetened beverages with coffee, tea, plain water, or low-fat milk was associated with a lower risk of death.
Specifically, replacing sugar-sweetened beverages with coffee reduced the risk of all-cause mortality by 18% and CVD death by 20%; Replacing tea with tea reduced the risk by 16% and 24%, respectively; Replacing with plain water reduces the risk by 16% and 20%; Substitution with low-fat milk reduced the risk by 12% and 19%. Even using artificial sugar drinks instead correlates with healthier outcomes.
Researchers say that sugar lovers should learn to choose when drinking beverages, and replacing sugary drinks with healthier ones will bring health benefits.
Overall, the results suggest that reducing the intake of sugary drinks and increasing the intake of coffee, tea, plain water or low-fat milk can lead to better health outcomes for people with type 2 diabetes.
Paper Link:
https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj-2022-073406
Disclaimer: This article interprets the literature truthfully and does not provide any advice.