Increases in the prevalence of obesity and type 2 diabetes mirror the increase in sugar and artificially sweetened soft drinks. The association between soft drink consumption and obesity is well established but the cause and effect is not fully understood. The fact that artificially sweetened soft drinks are also associated with obesity might suggest that the relationship is more complex than is first considered. In fact, the association between soft drink consumption may be explained simply by the presence of soft drinks as part of a low quality diet. In this regard, soft drinks may be a marker for poor nutritional habits and therefore the presence or absence of sugar is irrelevant. However, recent evidence does suggest that artificially sweetened soft drinks may be a cause of obesity. This is because aspartame, a common artificial sweetener used in such drinks, may cause appetite dysfunction if consumed regularly. The fact that aspartame may be directly involved as a causative agent in obesity cannot therefore be discounted.
The number of studies showing an association between soft drinks and blood sugar disorders is growing. This is not surprising as soft drinks contain fructose which is a known causative factor of insulin resistance. This explains the association between soft drinks and obesity because insulin resistance can increase the risk of metabolic syndrome and abdominal adiposity. A recent study investigated the association between soft drink consumption and diabetes in French subjects over fourteen years1. The average soft drink consumption was 268 and 568 ml per week for sugar and artificially sweetened drinks, respectively. Consumption of sugar sweetened and artificially sweetened soft drinks showed a trend towards an association for type 2 diabetes. However, for women there was a significant association between soft drink consumption and type 2 diabetes in those who consumed more than 359 and 603 mL of sugar and artificially sweetened soft drinks, respectively, compared to those women who consumed less.
The authors also investigated the association between fruit juice consumption and type 2 diabetes but found no significance in the relationship. However, other studies have found associations between fruit juice consumption and type diabetes but this may relate to the type of juice consumed. In this respect juice containing fibre may not be as detrimental as juice concentrate devoid of fibre. Diets high in soft drinks are generally low in fibre and this may be a contributory factor in the development of blood sugar dysfunction. Therefore consuming over a certain threshold of soft drinks may increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, and this association is irrespective of the type of sweetener used. These result are therefore in line with previous studies that show deleterious effects for soft drink consumption. While it is true that those inclined to drink soft drinks in large quantities likely have other dietary habits that are also detrimental to the health, there are clear mechanisms by which soft drinks may cause blood sugar disorders.
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