Do Soft Drinks Cause Diabetes?
Diabetes Mellitus occurs in the non-sugar drinking population of this study at a rate of 0.95% in 10 years; that is less than one woman out of 100 will get the illness in 10 years. For women who drink at least one sugary drink per day, the risk increases to 1.7% - almost 2 women in 10 years. This is not a high risk compared to risks of other illnesses, but one that could be easily avoided by drinking non-sugar-loaded drinks if indeed the sugar drinks are actually responsible for this increase.
There is a suggestion in the study itself: the average weight of women increased during the duration of the study. However, women who increased their sugar-drink consumption during the study, had a larger increase in weight. Obviously, there is some connection between sugared-drink consumption and obesity. The authors report that the sugar-drink consumption also triggers increased caloric intake from other foods. Increased caloric intake leads to increased weight that is, in turn, a risk factor for diabetes. This indicates (but does not prove) that the sugary drinks do actually lead to diabetes. It is also plausible that other causes (e.g., the high glycemic index of soft drinks), or other mechanisms that are not well understood at this time, increase the risk of diabetes.