Swapping one soda for water is ‘game changer’ for cutting risk of diabetes and cancer

Swapping one soda drink for water dramatically cuts calories
That swap could save you from a heart attack, Virginia Tech study says
It also seems to drive people to eat healthier foods in general

Mia De Graaf For Dailymail.com

Published:
19:55 GMT, 15 August 2016

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Updated:
19:57 GMT, 15 August 2016

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You may think that one can of Coke is a harmless pick-me-up.

But a new study warns swapping a single sugary drink for water will have a dramatic effect on your heart health.

Calories in sugary beverages like soda, energy drinks, and sweetened coffee can increase risk of weight gain, obesity, Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

According to experts at Virginia Tech University, every little calorie helps when it comes to protecting your heart.

And their research shows that people who avoid diet drinks become more incentivized to eat fruit, vegetables and whole grains.

Calories in sugary drinks like soda, energy drinks, and sweetened coffee can increase risk of weight gain, obesity, Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. And every calorie counts

‘Regardless of how many servings of sugar-sweetened beverages you consume, replacing even just one serving can be of benefit,’ said Kiyah J. Duffey, a nutrition expert at the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

Duffey’s findings, which were recently published in Nutrients, modeled the effect of replacing one eight-ounce sugar-sweetened beverage with an eight-ounce serving of water.

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This experiment was designed around the daily dietary intake of U.S. adults aged 19 and older, retrieved from the 2007-2012 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys.

Duffey’s team showed that this one-for-one drink swap could reduce daily calories and the prevalence of obesity in populations that consume sugary beverages.

The 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend that no more than 10 per cent of daily calories come from added sugar and that calorie-free drinks, particularly water, should be favored.

WANT TO STAY HEALTHY? STAND UP ON THE TRAIN

It may look tempting, but that seat on the subway could be disastrous for your health.

According to a new study, taking the choice to stand – even briefly – can dramatically cut your risk of a heart attack or developing diabetes.

Failing that, a slow walk or a gentle cycle for just 10 minutes could also help to rein in blood sugar levels.

With the majority of people now working sedentary jobs, small decisions like these could make a crucial difference to public health as global diabetes rates soar.

‘Anything you can do to bring down glucose readings throughout the day is a good thing,’ said senior author Glenn Gaesser of the School of Nutrition and Health Promotion at Arizona State University in Phoenix.

‘We found that among U.S. adults who consume one serving of sugar-sweetened beverages per day, replacing that drink with water lowered the percent of calories coming from drinks from 17 to 11 per cent,’ Duffey said.

‘Even those who consumed more sugary drinks per day could still benefit from water replacement, dropping the amount of calories coming from beverages to less than 25 per cent of their daily caloric intake.’

As Duffey found, a reduction in the amount of daily calories coming from sugary drinks also improves individual scores on the Healthy Beverage Index.

The Index is a scoring system designed to evaluate individual beverage patterns and their relation to diet and health based on standards set forth by the Beverage Guidance Panel and the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

Duffey developed this index in 2015 with Virginia Tech nutrition researcher Brenda Davy, a professor of human nutrition, foods, and exercise in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and a Fralin Life Science Institute affiliate.

Their preliminary data showed that higher scores correlate to better cholesterol levels, lowered risk of hypertension, and in men, lowered blood pressure.

The broader goal of the index is to help people identify what and how much they drink each day, as drinking habits can impact eating habits.