Cola increases gestational diabetes risk

Drinking lots of sugar-sweetened cola may increase women's likelihood of developing diabetes during pregnancy, a condition known as gestational diabetes.

Sugar-sweetened beverages are one of the major sources of added sugar in urbanities' diets, and several studies have linked high sugary drink intake with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes in women. But there is little information on whether consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages before pregnancy might increase gestational diabetes risk. To investigate, researchers in Taiwan analysed data on 13, 475 women who had at least one pregnancy between 1992 and 2001. During that time, 860 women reported having been diagnosed with gestational diabetes for the first time.

Women who drank five or more sugar-sweetened beverages of any type per week were 23 percent more likely to develop gestational diabetes than those who drank less than one serving a month, and the relationship remained even after the researchers accounted for other gestational diabetes risk factors such as BMI, level of physical activity and family history of diabetes.

The researchers looked separately at cola beverages, because the caramel coloring used in them has been linked in animal studies to insulin resistance and inflammation. They found a 22 percent increased risk of developing diabetes during pregnancy for women who drank five or more non-diet colas a week, compared to women who had less than one serving of cola a month. There was no relationship between diet beverage consumption and gestational diabetes risk.

The demands pregnancy puts on a woman's metabolism may unmask a tendency toward developing diabetes and similar conditions. Drinking cola could contribute to this tendency by making for a sugar-filled diet, which in and of itself may be harmful to the insulin-producing beta cells of the pancreas. Moreover, because diet cola didn't increase gestational diabetes risk, caramel coloring isn't likely to be a major factor in the relationship observed with non-diet cola.

The findings clearly indicate that women having cola are at  a greater risk of gestational diabetes.  Further research is expected on sugar-sweetened beverage consumption and gestational diabetes, as well as other pregnancy outcomes.