Diet Soda & Diabetes

For diabetics who need to control their blood sugar levels, diet soda seems like the perfect way to satisfy your sweet tooth without adding sugar or calories. Plenty of Americans appear to agree, because of the top ten best-selling soft drinks in America in 2009, five were diet drinks. Those sales accounted for 25 percent of the soft drink market share, according to Beverage-Digest. Recent research questions whether diet drinks containing artificial sweeteners might also trigger weight gain and elevations in blood glucose levels despite their lack of calories.

Benefits

Diabetics need to keep the blood glucose levels as close to the normal range as possible, which is a fasting level of 100 mg/dL or less. Regular soft drinks contain around 39 g of carbohydrates per 12-oz. serving, all in the form of simple sugars. Simple sugars raise blood glucose levels very quickly, which triggers a large insulin release from the pancreas. Insulin helps glucose enter cells to be used for energy. In type 2 diabetes, the most common form of the disease, the rapid rise in insulin levels stresses the pancreas and will burn out insulin-producing cells over time. Diet sodas allow diabetics to drink popular drinks without the quick rise in blood sugar that puts can damage the insulin-producing cells.

Studies

A study reported in the American Diabetes Association's "Diabetes Care" on Jan. 16, 2009 looked at the connection between diabetes and diet soda consumption. The study, conducted by the University of Texas at Houston found that people who drank diet soda on a daily basis had a 67 percent increased risk of developing diabetes. Researchers pointed out, however, that this did not mean that diet soft drinks caused diabetes. A study conducted at the University of Texas San Antonio over a 25-year period found that increased consumption of diet drinks was associated with an increased risk of obesity. The study, presented at the American Diabetes Association's 65th Annual Scientific Sessions in 2005, found that consuming three or more diet soft drinks each day almost doubled the risk of becoming overweight or obese over the next seven to eight years. Excess weight is a strong risk factor for type 2 diabetes.

A study reported in the September 2006 issue of "Annals of Epidemiology" conducted by researchers from Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center found that people with diabetes drank three times as much diet soda as those without the disease. Diabetics who drank diet soda had higher hemoglobin A1C levels than diabetics who did not drink diet soda. HgbA1C levels give a picture of blood glucose levels over the last three months.

Potential Actions

One theory as to the connection between diet soft drinks and weight gain or increased blood glucose levels suggests that the sweet taste of the drinks without any added calories confuses the feedback loops between the stomach and brain, disturbing the body's ability to accurately gauge calorie consumption.

Considerations

Studies that show a connection between drinking diet soft drinks and a rise in blood glucose levels or weight gain over time generally don't prove that the diet soft drinks cause the changes, Harvard School of Public Health cautions.