An article published in the latest issue of the American Society for Nutrition stated that women who consumed more than 359 ml of artificially sweetened beverages (e.g. diet pop) were at an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes. This was in comparison to women who consumed no soda (sugar or artificially sweetened). Women who consumed traditional sugar sweetened beverages were also at increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes (no news here).

The researchers did point out that this was a correlational relationship. This means that with no certainty can we say that consumption of artificially sweetened beverages causes diabetes. However, they also said that: “randomized trials are required to prove a causal link between ASB consumption and T2D”. This, to me, suggests that they believe that artificially sweetened beverages can cause type 2 diabetes.

Personally, I would be quite surprised if it was the artificially sweetened pop causing type 2 diabetes, rather than a combination of genetic and lifestyle factors. I also think that this sort of research (and probably most of us) is looking at the problem from the wrong direction. Rather than looking for a single cause of “lifestyle” illnesses such as type 2 diabetes, we should be looking for the “causes” of health.

Consider this: One in every three American children will develop type 2 diabetes in their lifetime and similar rates are anticipated for Canadian children (1). Type 2 diabetes is just one of many chronic diseases affecting Canadians. I think that we need to shift our focus from seeking a likely non-existent single cause of such diseases and start looking at what we can do to retain our health for as long as possible. It’s the difference between a preventative model of health care rather than our current model which treats only those who are already ill. There is much truth in the adage that “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”