Different beverages affect all-cause mortality in type 2 diabetes

Different beverages affect all-cause mortality as well as cardiovascular disease (CVD) incidence and mortality in type 2 diabetes.

Data for 2021 suggests that globally, 537 million were living with diabetes and CVD is the main cause of death in those with type 2 diabetes. Moreover, sugar-sweetened and artificially sweetened beverages increase all-cause and CVD-related mortality.

Nevertheless, the effect of different beverages on either all-cause mortality or CVD risk in those with type 2 diabetes is largely unknown. There is also a lack of clarity on whether changes to beverage intake following a diagnosis effects CVD risk.

In a recent BMJ study, researchers set out to investigate the relationship between beverage intake and all-cause mortality in type 2 diabetes. They also considered if a change in what people drank following their diagnosis affected their subsequent CVD risk.

Data were collected from two large US prospective studies (the Nurses' Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-Up Study). The researchers set the primary outcome as all-cause mortality. Secondary outcome measures were CVD incidence and mortality.

Beverages and all-cause mortality in type 2 diabetes

There were 15,486 men and women with a mean age of 61.3 years (73.6% female) who had a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes at baseline. These individuals were followed for an average of 18.5 years. During this time, 22.3% developed incident CVD and 49.3% died.

When comparing the highest and lowest drink intake, there was a 20% greater all-cause mortality risk for those drinking sugar-sweetened drinks (hazard ratio, HR = 1.20, 95% CI 1.04 - 1.37). In contrast, the all-cause mortality risk was significantly lower in those drinking higher amounts of coffee (HR = 0.74, 95% CI 0.63 - 0.86).

This relationship was also apparent for tea (HR = 0.79), plain water (HR = 0.77) and low-fat milk (HR = 0.88). Higher intake of coffee also significantly lowered the risk of CVD incidence (HR = 0.82).

The researchers also considered the effect of changes to beverage intake after an individual had their type 2 diabetes diagnosis. For example, replacing one serving per day of a sugar sweetened drink with coffee, gave rise to an 18% lower risk of all-cause mortality. Similar trends occurred with tea, plain water and low-fat milk.