Re: Diabetes in a can.
I have been reading scientific research papers for over 10 years, mainly to do with genetic anthropology, and I have never seen a single one reported accurately in a newspaper or on TV. I remember Dr Paul Budd stating after his publication on the oxygen isotope analysis on the 'Amesbury Archer',
"we had fun trying to answer the media's questions in such a way that would not allow them to tell the story that they wanted to tell".
As Phoenix has pointed out the paper, Consumption of sweet beverages and type 2 diabetes incidence in European adults: results from EPIC-InterAct, is available for download at
http://www.diabetologia-journal.org
One of the aims was to test the effect of artifically sweeted drinks and natural juices. They explain,
"A meta-analysis published in 2010 provides empirical evidence for a link between the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (defined as drinks containing energy sweeteners, such as sucrose, high-fructose corn syrup and fruit juice concentrate [i.e. soft drinks and juices with added sugars]) and type 2 diabetes."
So there is nothing new in this observation, but:
"The association between the consumption of other beverage types (i.e. 100% juices and artificially sweetened drinks) and type 2 diabetes risk is less clear, with some studies showing inconsistent results."
They report:
Results
In adjusted models, one 336 g (12 oz) daily increment in sugar-sweetened and artificially sweetened soft drink consumption was associated with HRs for type 2 diabetes of 1.22 (95% CI 1.09, 1.38) and 1.52 (95% CI 1.26, 1.83), respectively. After further adjustment for energy intake and BMI, the association of sugar-sweetened soft drinks with type 2 diabetes persisted (HR 1.18, 95% CI 1.06, 1.32), but the association of artificially sweetened soft drinks became statistically not significant (HR 1.11, 95% CI 0.95, 1.31). Juice and nectar consumption was not associated with type 2 diabetes incidence.
Conclusions/interpretation
This study corroborates the association between increased incidence of type 2 diabetes and high consumption of sugar sweetened soft drinks in European adults.
HR by the way is a statistical term and stands for Hazard-Regression. It is a way of determining risk, in this case, of getting type 2 diabetes. They are relative probabilities not absolute probabilities, eg A is, for example, 2 times more likely to get this or that than B is.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proportion ... rds_models