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if you have type 2 diabetesdrinking more coffee, tea or plain water can reduce the risk of dying prematurely from any cause by about 25%, according to a new study.
However, drinking more sugary drinks increased the risk of heart disease by 25% and the risk of dying from a heart attack or other cardiovascular event by 29%, according to the study. Investigation has shown that cardiovascular disease is the most common cause of death among people with type 2 diabetes.
“Certain beverages are absolutely more beneficial than others, depending on the type of beverage you’re comparing,” said study author Qi Sun, an associate professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health in Boston.
“Based on our study, I would rank black coffee, unsweetened tea and plain water above low-fat milk, fruit juices or artificially sweetened beverages,” he said. “Sugared beverages such as colas, fruit juices high in sugar, and whole milk high in saturated fat are known risk factors for developing type 2 diabetes and premature cardiovascular disease.”
The study, published Wednesday in the BMJ magazine, analyzed the dietary data of almost 15,500 adults diagnosed with type 2 diabetes who were part of the Nurses Health Study and Follow-up study of health professionals in the U.S.
Almost 75% of the respondents in the studies were women with an average age of 61 years. Every two to four years for an average of 18 years, participants answered questions about their consumption of eight different types of beverages: artificially sweetened beverages, coffee, fruit juice, low-fat, and whole. milk, plain water, tea and sugary drinks.
Examples of sugary drinks included caffeinated soft drinks, non-caffeinated soft drinks, fruit punches, lemonades, and other fruit drinks. More than one such drink per day was considered a high level of consumption; the low consumption was less than one sugary drink per month.
The study defined a high intake of coffee (caffeinated and decaffeinated) as four cups per day, tea as two cups per day, water as five glasses per day, and low-fat milk as two glasses per day. A low amount for each drink was less than one cup or glass per month.
The analysis showed that people who drank the most sugary drinks had a 20% increased risk of death from any cause compared to those who drank the least. Dying from an event related to the cardiovascular system, such as a heart attack, increased by 29%, the study found.
The risk of premature death increased by 8% for each additional serving per day.
Consuming large amounts of coffee, tea, water and low-fat milk, on the other hand, was associated with lower mortality compared with drinking a low amount, according to the study. There was a 26% lower risk of premature death associated with coffee consumption, 21% for tea, 23% for plain water, and 12% for low-fat milk.
Looking specifically at cardiovascular disease, the data showed that higher coffee intake was associated with an 18% lower risk of heart disease. Drinking low-fat milk cut the chances of heart problems by 12%, the study found.
There was good news for people who were heavy drinkers of sugary drinks before they were diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. When those sweet drinks were replaced with coffee or calorie-free artificial drinks after diagnosis, the risk of premature death dropped significantly, he found. the study.
When sugar-sweetened beverages and calorie-free artificial beverages were replaced with coffee, tea, plain water, and low-fat milk, there was an even lower risk of heart disease and death from any cause.
There were no data on the types of tea (black, green, herbal or fruit) consumed during the studies and no information on whether participants added sugar to their coffee or tea. The lack of data on this common additive means that “the comparative health effects of unsweetened and sugared hot drinks remain unclear,” wrote Nita Forouhi, program leader and researcher in nutritional epidemiology at Cambridge University of United Kingdom. in an accompanying editorial.
The study was observational, so the findings cannot be viewed through a cause-and-effect lens. However, the authors “carried out detailed and repeated collection of dietary data, followed participants for nearly two decades, applied comprehensive adjustments for confounding factors, and performed 12 different sensitivity analyses,” said Forouhi, who did not participated in the study.
“The case for avoiding sugary drinks is compelling,” he said. “Beverage choice clearly matters.”