Just two drinks of fizzy pop a week increases heart and diabetes risk
revealed consuming as few as two servings of such drinks a week was linked to an increased risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.
Professor Essop said: “Our analysis revealed that most epidemiological studies strongly show that frequent intake of these beverages contributes to the onset of metabolic syndrome, diabetes and hypertension.”
Infectious
The United Nations warned six years ago that noncommunicable diseases pose a greater health risk than infectious diseases and that cardiometabolic conditions such as metabolic syndrome and diabetes cause 19 million deaths a year globally.
About four million people in the UK have diabetes, with 90 per cent suffering from Type 2. Type 1 is an auto- immune disease which cannot currently be cured.
Type 2 can be avoided by making lifestyle changes such as taking more exercise and eating a healthy diet. An estimated 549,000 people have Type 2 diabetes but are not aware of it.
And experts have warned that Britain is sitting on a diabetes timebomb.
The number of prescriptions for Type 2 sufferers has risen by a third in five years from 26 million to 35 million.
Last night Douglas Twenefour, of Diabetes UK, welcomed the study’s findings.
He said: “Type 2 diabetes is a serious condition that has devastating complications, but in the majority of cases its development can be slowed or even prevented by maintaining a healthy weight, exercising regularly and following a healthy diet.”
Gavin Partington, of the British Soft Drinks Association, said: “This so- called academic has chosen to cherry- pick studies with findings that fit their desired outcome.
“UK sugar intake from soft drinks is down by 17 per cent since 2013.”
The study was published in the Journal Of The Endocrine Society.