WHAT DID THE STUDY FIND?
According to an analysis of data from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study, consuming higher amounts of diet drinks, and or saccharin was associated with an elevated risk of developing Diabetes.
Add Your Heading Text Here
At Nutrition 2025, the annual meeting of the American Society for Nutrition, a 30 year study was presented that included 4654 adults with a mean age of 24.9 years at the 1985 to 1986 baseline.
Dietary intake was assessed by the CARDIA diet history at year zero, year seven and year 20. The cumulative average intakes of artificial sweeteners and diet beverages were calculated.
Diabetes was defined as a fasting glucose greater than 126 mg/dL, oral 2 hour glucose tolerance test greater than 200 mg/dL, Hemoglobin A1c greater than 6.5% or use of diabetes medications at follow up visits.
Over a median follow up of 30 years, 691 incident Diabetes events occurred in those in the upper percentile of diet beverage intake. Those people had a significantly higher risk of developing Diabetes than those in the lower percentile. Positive associations were also observed for intakes of saccharin as well.
WHAT CONCLUSIONS CAN BE DRAWN?
Co-author Lyn Steffen, PhD, Professor of Epidemiology and Community Health at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, Minneapolis states, ‘These findings, highlight the need to evaluate the long-term metabolic effect of artificial sweeteners on glucose metabolism.’
A previous CARDIA analysis by Steffen’s team suggested that long-term intakes of aspartame, saccharine or diet soda were related to greater volumes of adipose (fatty) tissue.
Steffen states, ‘I recommend limiting the use of any sweetener. For beverages, I suggest unsweetened water, coffee, tea, milk, or small amount of 100% fruit juice.’
WHAT IS DR. RICHARD RIMLER’S COMMENTARY?
I believe one of the keys to good health is eating real food, not things that have chemicals contained in them. Our bodies have been programmed from our origins to eat real food, and our bodies know how to deal with real food. Once artificial ingredients and chemicals are introduced, our body is not able to process them the same way. This gives credence to the findings of this study.
Believe it or not, it is healthier to drink soda with sugar than with artificial sweeteners, although I am not advocating that. Keeping sugar intake to a minimum is one of the keys to good health. Emphasizing natural sugars that are found in fruit, for instance, are the sugars that should be consumed. Even in those fruits, it is best to go with ones with a lower “glycemic index” such as apples, pears, strawberries or blueberries. With those fruits, the blood sugar does not rise as fast and your body has a better chance to keep the glucose levels from rising too fast.
I advocate drinking “Reverse osmosis water” which filters out all potential toxins. If you want to add a little bit of flavor to it, I recommend either lemon or lime juice, cucumber or strawberry added to the water.
I disagree on recommending even small amounts of fruit juice unless it has pulp in it. Having the pulp will slow the rise of sugar in the blood due to its fiber content.
I encourage you to book an office visit or teleconsultation so I can put you on a safe path to wellness.
Any treatments mentioned should only be used after a one to one personal evaluation, do not start any kind of treatment without first consulting your doctor.
Walk strong and live long my friends!
References:
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.
