The Business Bytes
TBB BUREAU
NEW DELHI, APR 20, 2023
If you have diabetes, then you must avoid sugar-sweetened beverages like sodas, fruit punch, and lemonade to cut down the risk of premature death, according to a study published online in The BMJ.
Led by researchers at Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, the study showed that high consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages may also increase the incidence of mortality from cardiovascular disease (CVD), among diabetics.
Every additional daily serving of a sugar-sweetened beverage was associated with 8 per cent higher all-cause mortality, say the researchers.
However, drinking beverages like coffee, tea, low-fat cow’s milk, and plain water was associated with lower risk of dying prematurely, revealed the study.
The study is important for India where an estimated 77 million people above the age of 18 years are suffering from diabetes (type 2) while nearly 25 million are prediabetics (at a higher risk of developing diabetes in near future).
Replacing one daily serving of a sugar-sweetened beverages with one serving of coffee was associated with an 18 per cent lower risk of all-cause mortality and a 20 per cent lower risk of CVD mortality; tea with 16 per cent and 24 per cent lower risk; plain water with a 16 per cent and 20 per cent lower risk; and low-fat cow’s milk with a 12 per cent and 19 per cent lower risk.
“Beverages are an important component of our diet, and the quality can vary hugely,” said lead author Qi Sun, Associate Professor in the Departments of Nutrition and Epidemiology.
“People living with diabetes may especially benefit from drinking healthy beverages – but data has been sparse. These findings help fill in that knowledge gap and may inform patients and their caregivers on diet and diabetes management,” Sun added.
The researchers analysed an average of 18.5 years of health data from 9,252 women and 3,519 men all of whom had been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes at baseline or at some point during the study.
“People living with diabetes should be picky about how they keep themselves hydrated,” said Sun. “Switching from sugar-sweetened beverages to healthier beverages will bring health benefits.”
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), more than 50% of people are unaware of their diabetic status which leads to health complications if not detected and treated early. Adults with diabetes have a two- to three-fold increased risk of heart attacks and strokes.
Combined with reduced blood flow, neuropathy (nerve damage) in the feet increases the chance of foot ulcers, infection, and the eventual need for limb amputation. Diabetic retinopathy is an important cause of blindness and occurs as a result of long-term accumulated damage to the small blood vessels in the retina. Diabetes is among the leading causes of kidney failure, as per the WHO.
