Analysis shows carbonated and sugar-filled drinks could be responsible for one in six new cases of type 2 diabetes

Fizzy and sugary drinks may be responsible for one in six new cases of type 2 diabetes.

According to a new analysis, 2.2 million people worldwide developed type 2 diabetes in 2020 as a result of sugary drinks.

That was almost 10 percent of people with type 2 diabetes worldwide.

But in Britain, researchers estimate that more than 16 percent of people diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in 2020 could blame unhealthy drinks.

Sugary drinks, such as cola, lemonade and fashionable energy drinks, are drunk and digested quickly, unlike high-calorie foods that take longer to eat, and researchers say the drinks don’t make people feel full.

It means that those who drink them regularly consume a lot of calories and gain weight, which greatly increases their chances of developing type 2 diabetes.

The new research, which looked at 184 countries in total, blames sugary drinks for more than 35,000 new cases of type 2 diabetes in Britain in 2020.

The drinks have also been linked to more than 11,000 cases of cardiovascular disease in Britain in 2020.

The researchers looked at two types of cardiovascular disease: heart disease caused by blocked arteries and stroke caused by blood clots.

It was judged that almost one in 20 cases of this type of cardiovascular disease in Britain in 2020 was caused by sugary drinks.

Researchers point out that even after a tax on soft drinks was introduced in Britain in 2018, sales still increased, which may have been due to ‘marketing strategies’ by soft drink companies.

Dr. Laura Lara-Castor, who led the research at Tufts University in the US, and is now at the University of Washington, said: ‘We need more and aggressive efforts to reduce people’s consumption of sugary drinks, including restrictions to such advertising. targeting children, crackdown on sugary drinks served in schools and workplaces, health warnings on drink bottles.”

‘The UK could also consider a higher sugar tax so that companies further reduce the sugar in their drinks and people are less likely to buy sugary drinks.’

The analysis, published in the journal Nature Medicine, looked at the number of people diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease in each country in 1990 and 2020, and the likely proportion of people in each country who consumed sugary drinks on based on surveys that asked people about their diet.

Of the 30 most populous countries, Britain saw the tenth largest increase in the number of new cases of type 2 diabetes caused by the consumption of sugary drinks in 2020, compared to 1990.

But it saw the biggest drop in cardiovascular disease deaths linked to sugary drinks.

In Britain, almost one in 25 deaths from type 2 diabetes – the deaths of 227 people – was linked to people consuming fizzy and sugar-filled drinks.

It is estimated that approximately one in forty deaths from cardiovascular disease – more than 2,700 – is caused by sugary drinks.

The estimates were possible because previous studies tracked morbidity and mortality in people who drank large amounts of sugary drinks.

The conclusions were particularly worrying in developing countries, where more than 21 percent of all new cases of type 2 diabetes in sub-Saharan Africa were linked to sugary drinks.

Drinks were the cause of almost half of all new type 2 diabetes diagnoses in Colombia, and almost a third of those in Mexico.

Over time, regular consumption of sugary drinks causes the body to regulate blood sugar levels less effectively, which can lead to type 2 diabetes. It is believed to cause inflammation in the body that hardens blood vessels and can lead to heart problems.

The study attributes the 1.2 million new cases of cardiovascular disease observed worldwide in 2020 to sugar-sweetened beverages.

However, Britain saw a large reduction in the number of cases of this disease linked to sugary drinks between 1990 and 2020. Professor Dariush Mozaffarian, senior author of the study, from Tufts University, said: ‘Sugar-sweetened drinks are heavily marketed and sold. in low- and middle-income countries.

“These communities not only consume harmful products, but are often less equipped to deal with the long-term health consequences.”

Globally, men, younger adults, highly educated people and people in urban areas were found to be more likely to suffer the consequences of consuming sugary drinks.

Dr. Lara-Castor said: ‘We need urgent, evidence-based interventions to curb the consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks worldwide, before even more lives are shortened by their effects on diabetes and heart disease.’

A government spokesperson said: ‘Diabetes can be debilitating and damaging to our economy and the NHS.

“As part of our 10-year health plan, this government is committed to shifting the focus of healthcare from disease to prevention.

‘The Government is reviewing the Soft Drink Industry Levy to ensure it remains effective in tackling obesity and other harms caused by high sugar intake.’