Just two DIET Cokes a day ‘DOUBLES your risk of diabetes’
HAVING just two soft drinks a day more than doubles the risk of diabetes, scientists warn.
A couple of glasses of sugary or diet pop – such as Diet Coke - raises a person’s chance of the disease by a staggering 139 per cent.
And those glugging a litre daily – around five servings – saw their chances of type 2 diabetes multiply over 10 times.
Experts warned Brits should switch from fizzy drinks to water.
More than 3.5 million Brits have type 2 diabetes, which is linked to obesity. It occurs when the body fails to produce enough insulin or struggles to use it.
It can damage the eyes, heart, nerves, and feet – and also lead to kidney failure and early death.
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One theory is sweetened beverages can affect how the body uses insulin.
And experts also fear diet drinks condition people to want more sugary food – causing them to pile on the pounds.
Lead researcher Josefin Edwall Löfvenborg from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden said: “We found the same results for both artificially sweetened soft drinks - like Diet Coke - as we did for sugary soft drinks.
"We observed increased risk of type 2 diabetes for both types of soft drinks.
“The key take home message would be that consuming large amounts of soft drinks, especially sugary drinks, may increase your risk of both type 2 diabetes.”
Her team investigated the impact of drinking sugary or artificially sweetened soft drinks on diabetes risk by looking at the eating and drinking habits of 2,874 adults.
They found those consuming more than two 200ml drinks saw their chances of developing Type 2 diabetes more than double.
Consuming large amounts of soft drinks, especially sugary drinks, may increase your risk diabetes
Josefin Edwall Löfvenborg
And it also made them twice as likely to developing a less common condition called Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults – a slow-burning form of type 1 diabetes where the body attacks and destroys all its insulin-making cells.
The study is published in the European Journal of Endocrinology.
Tam Fry, from the National Obesity Forum, said: “It is yet another warning that sweetened drinks, though appearing harmless on the surface, can mess things up inside you.
“Why should you want to take that risk when a glass or two of water will slake your thirst and not put your health in jeopardy?”
Gavin Partington, BSDA Director General, said: “This study concludes that people who are overweight and lead unhealthier lifestyles are more at risk of developing of diabetes.
“Experts in this area, including Diabetes UK, agree that diabetes is the result of many factors including family history and lifestyle.
“It would be more helpful for academics to consider the wide range of causes rather than attempt wrongly to attribute blame to one product.”
Previous research has found artificially sweetened drinks also raise the risk of heart failure by a quarter.