How Soft Drinks Increase the Risk of Diabetes and What to Drink Instead

Soft drinks are hugely popular because they are so addictingly sweet. The average 20 oz can of coke has approximately 15-18 tsps. of sugar and contains over 240 calories. Drinking just one easily surpasses the recommended daily amount of sugar. And the carbs in soda are quick digesting and do not reduce your calorie intake; in fact, they are a major addition to it. The negative effects from soda consumption are only worsened by the ever-increasing sedentary lifestyle of the 21st century.

Drinking 1-2 cans of soda a day drastically increases your chance of developing type 2 diabetes. A 2010 study says that it can increase your chances by up to 26%, and that makes you a quarter times more likely to develop diabetes. Soda has a high glycemic index. Foods with a high glycemic index are digested faster than foods with a low glycemic index; this can lead to major spikes in your blood sugar levels. This can result in a higher demand for insulin which is the hormone responsible for breaking down sugar. Sustained high demand for insulin can lead to pancreatic exhaustion and glucose intolerance, which inevitably will result in diabetes.

There are some great substitutes for soda drinks out there that will not increase your risk of developing diabetes. You can still have a tasty drink while maintaining your health.

Water and Lemon

Water is of course what you should be drinking every day, regardless of what else you fancy. It is essential to sustaining life and good health. If plain old water is not good enough, you should spice it up by adding in some slices of lime or lemon. You can also infuse natural fruit flavors to the water in your water bottle by soaking your favorite fruit in it overnight.

Soda Water and Lime

For some people, their love for soda is not just the sugar, it is the bubbles. Carbonated beverages are fun to drink after all. If this is the case for you, consider drinking plain soda water with no extra sugar. You can even make it taste similar to soda by infusing it with lime or other citrus fruits.

Coffee or Tea

Plain coffee or tea is actually pretty great. It has very few carbs and no sugar unless you add it to your beverage. And you certainly can benefit from the caffeine if you do not over indulge.