Women who drink one or more sugar-sweetened beverages like non-diet soda and fruit punch every day tend to gain more weight and have an increased risk of Type 2 Diabetes, according to a study published in last week’s issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Researchers analyzed data collected from the Brigham and Women’s Hospital-based Nurses’ Health Study II, an ongoing project involving more than 91,000 participants who had filled out biennial food frequency questionnaires between 1991 and 1999.

During the eight-year span of the study, 741 new cases of Type 2 Diabetes were diagnosed. Those who reported drinking sugar-sweetened sodas more than once per day showed an increased risk for type 2 diabetes of more than 80 percent compared to women in the study who drank less than one per month, independent of lifestyle factors such as smoking, alcohol, physical activity, and dietary habits. Those who drank more than one fruit punch per day showed a nearly doubled risk for Type 2 Diabetes compared to those in the study who reported drinking less than one per month. The researchers also assessed intake of fruit juice (orange, pineapple or apple juice) and found no increased risk for Type 2 Diabetes.

“Soft drinks are the leading source of added sugar in the American diet,” providing “a large amount of excess calories and no nutritional value,” said Matthias Schulze, lead author of the study. “Our results show that increasing one’s consumption of sugary soft drinks significantly increases the risk for weight gain and type 2 diabetes.”

The study found that women who increased their soft-drink consumption and maintained a high level (one or more per day) for the eight year span gained, on average, more than 17 pounds, while women who decreased their consumption to a low level (one drink or less per week) gained on average approximately six pounds.

In addition, the study found that women with the highest levels of soft-drink consumption tended to be physically less active, smoke more, had higher daily caloric intake and lower intake of protein, alcohol and cereal fiber compared to women in the study who drank sugared soft-drinks at a low level.

Diet soda or unsweetened fruit juices appear not to carry the same risks, according to the study. The study only looked at women, but researchers believe that the risk also hold true for men.

“This is the first study to show a strong positive association between sugar-sweetened beverages, including regular sodas and fruit punches, and diabetes risk,” said Frank Hu, senior author of the study and associate professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health. “Our study suggests that limiting consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, especially soft drinks, is an important public health strategy to curb the epidemic of obesity and type 2 diabetes.”

The American Beverage Association said the study was scientifically unsound.

“It is inexplicable that the authors have chosen to focus solely on sugar-sweetened beverages in this way,” said Dr. Richard Adamson, Vice President for Scientific and Technical Affairs at the American Beverage Association. “Neither soft drinks nor fruit juice consumption nor sugar intake are listed by the National Institutes of Health, the American Diabetes Association or the majority of published medical literature as risk factors for type 2 diabetes. This study provides no evidence to support the inflammatory allegation that sugar-sweetened beverages are a cause of type 2 diabetes.”.

(via Harvard School of Public Health)