Study decodes how drinking sugary beverages raises diabetes risk

Ateam of US researchers has decoded the role of gut microbes in increasing the risk of diabetes after consuming sugary drinks.

The study, published in the paper appearing in the journal Cell Metabolism, shows that metabolites produced by gut microbes might play a role.

In the study, the team identified differences in the gut microbiota and blood metabolites of individuals with a high intake of sugar-sweetened beverages. They found that high sugary beverage intake — defined as two or more sugary beverages per day — led to changes in nine species of bacteria.

Four of these species are known to produce short-chain fatty acids — molecules that are produced when bacteria digest fibre. These are known to positively impact glucose metabolism.

The altered metabolite profile seen in sugary beverage drinkers was associated with a higher risk of developing diabetes in the subsequent 10 years, said the researchers.

“Our study suggests a potential mechanism to explain why sugar-sweetened beverages are bad for your metabolism,” said Qibin Qi, an epidemiologist at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York.

“Although our findings are observational, they provide insights for potential diabetes prevention or management strategies using the gut microbiome,” Qi added.

The researcher noted that more than in solid foods, added sugar in beverages “might be more easily absorbed, and they have a really high energy density because they’re just sugar and water”.

The team examined data from over 16,000 participants. In addition to changes in gut microbiota, the researchers also found associations between sugary beverage consumption and 56 serum metabolites. This includes several metabolites that are produced by gut microbiota or are derivatives of gut-microbiota-produced metabolites.

These sugar-associated metabolites were associated with worse metabolic traits, including higher levels of fasting blood glucose and insulin, higher BMIs and waist-to-hip ratios, and lower levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (“good” cholesterol).

“We found that several microbiota-related metabolites are associated with the risk of diabetes,” said Qi. “In other words, these metabolites may predict future diabetes.”