Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Intake Linked to Mortality, CVD in T2D

THURSDAY, April 20, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Higher intake of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) is associated with higher all-cause mortality and cardiovascular disease (CVD) incidence and mortality among adults with type 2 diabetes, according to a study published online April 19 in The BMJ.

Le Ma, from the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, and colleagues conducted a prospective cohort study involving 15,486 men and women with a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes to examine the intake of specific types of beverages in relation to mortality and outcomes.

The researchers found that 3,447 (22.3 percent) of participants had incident CVD and 7,638 deaths (49.3 percent) were documented during an average of 18.5 years of follow-up. When comparing categories of the lowest versus the highest intake of beverages, the pooled hazard ratios for all-cause mortality were significantly increased for SSBs (1.20) and significantly lower for coffee, tea, plain water, and low-fat milk (0.74, 0.79, 0.77, and 0.88, respectively) after multivariable adjustment. Associations were found to be similar for individual beverages and CVD incidence and mortality. SSB intake was associated with an increased risk for incident CVD and CVD mortality (hazard ratios, 1.25 and 1.29, respectively), while intake of coffee and low fat milk were significantly inversely associated with CVD incidence. Those who increased their consumption of coffee after diabetes diagnosis had lower all-cause mortality compared with those who did not change their coffee consumption.

"These results provide additional evidence that emphasizes the importance of beverage choices in maintaining overall health among adults with diabetes," the authors write.

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