Study suggests replacing soft drinks and sweetened milky drinks with water or unsweetened tea or coffee is practical way to reduce rising incidence of disease. Forgoing a sugary drink a day and drinking water or unsweetened tea or coffee instead could cut the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by up to a quarter, say researchers.
The research was based on a study of a week’s food diary compiled by 25,000 men and women aged 40 to 79 in Norfolk, England, more than a decade ago.
During 11 years of follow-up, 847 of those who completed the diaries were diagnosed with new-onset type 2 diabetes, a condition seen as an increasing risk to the public health of an ageing population, increasing the likelihood of heart disease, stroke and nerve damage. More than 3 million people in the UK are thought to have diabetes which is linked to obesity, lack of exercise and poor diet.
The study published in Diabetologia, the journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes, looked at whether people drank fizzy drinks and squashes, sweetened-milk drinks such as milkshakes, flavoured milks and hot chocolate, sweetened tea or coffee, or artificially sweetened drinks and fruit juice, and found that nearly all participants consumed at least one.
