Swapping a daily can of cola for a cup of coffee or tea cuts the risk of premature death in diabetics by a quarter, according to Harvard research
Swapping sugary soft drinks for tea and coffee may cut the chance of dying from type 2 diabetes by a quarter, research suggests.
Making a simple trade was linked to lower rates of early death from cardiovascular disease — such as heart attacks and stroke — and other causes.
Researchers analyzed data from 15,486 people with type 2 diabetes, including information about what drinks they typically consumed.
Replacing sugary drinks with tea and coffee may cut risk of death from type 2 diabetes by a quarter, study suggests
During an average follow-up of 18.5 years, approximately 22 percent (3,447) suffered from cardiovascular disease and nearly half (7,638) died during this period.
Those who consumed the most sugary drinks were one-fifth more likely to die prematurely from any cause, according to the findings.
However, those who drank more coffee — up to six cups a day — had a 26 percent lower risk of premature death.
Those who preferred tea had a 21 percent lower risk, water, 23 percent, and 12 percent for low-fat milk.
Compared with those who did not change their drinking habits after a diagnosis of diabetes, those who drank more coffee, tea or water had about an 18 percent lower risk of early death.
When it came to cardiovascular disease specifically, sugary drinks were associated with a 25 percent higher risk of developing the condition and a 29 percent higher risk of dying from it.
Coffee and low-fat milk were associated with a lower risk, according to findings published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ).
The authors emphasized that their findings are observations rather than proving cause and effect.
But they concluded that replacing sugary drinks, artificially sweetened drinks, fruit juice or whole milk with coffee, tea or plain water was “consistently associated with lower all-cause mortality.”
Lead author Qi Sun, from Harvard University in the US, said: ‘People living with diabetes may particularly benefit from drinking healthy beverages, but data is scarce.
“These findings help fill that knowledge gap and can educate patients and their caregivers about nutrition and diabetes management.”
She added, “People with diabetes have to be picky about how they keep themselves hydrated.” Switching from sugar-sweetened drinks to healthier drinks will bring health benefits.
The findings come the day after it was revealed that the soup and shake diet can permanently reverse diabetes if people maintain their weight.