Artificially Sweetened Beverages Allegedly Linked to Type 2 Diabetes

A recent study claims that both sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) and artificially sweetened beverage (ASB) consumption was associated with type 2 diabetes (T2D) risk in 66,118 women enrolled in a European prospective study. Guy Fagherazzi, et al., “Consumption of artificially and sugar-sweetened beverage and incident type 2 diabetes in the Etude Epidemiologique aupres des femmes de la Mutuelle Generale de l’Education Nationale—European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition cohort,” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, February 2013. French researchers reported that “women in the highest quartiles of SSB and ASB consumers were at an increased risk of T2D” compared with those who did not drink SSBs or ASBs, although randomized trials are still needed “to prove a causal link between ASB consumption and T2D.”

“SSB and ASB consumption were shown to be directly and indirectly (possibly
mediated by adiposity) linked with increased risk of T2D,” concluded the
study. “Extensive and lasting changes in public policy are required to curb the
worldwide diabetes and obesity epidemics, and limiting the consumption
of SSBs and ASBs may be an important strategy to do so…. Meanwhile, a
precautionary principle could be applied to the promotion of ASBs, which are
still largely recommended as a healthy substitute to SSBs.”