The Suggest drinks are all that added sugar and include: soft drinksSugular tea drinks and sports, energy and juices (unless the label indicates otherwise). They all contain large amounts of calories that can be harmful and very little or no nutritional value.
According to the World Health Organization, the intake of these kinds of free sugars, such as those in Products such as industrial pastries, chuches and sugary drinksIt is one of the most important factors that have shot cases of obesity and diabetes around the world
The problems of sugary drinks
A new study published in the magazine Cell metabolism He suggests that the intestinal microbiota could play a key role in the relationship between the consumption of sugary drinks and the risk of diabetes. The research conducted in a cohort of Latin adults in the United StatesIdentified differences in the composition of the intestinal microbiota and in the blood metabolites of the people who reported high consumption of these drinks. These metabolic changes were associated with an increased risk of developing diabetes in the following decade.
«Our study suggests a possible mechanism that explains why Sugular drinks are harmful to metabolism“, Said Qibin Qi, epidemiologist at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and the main author of the study. Although the findings are observational, according to the researcher, they offer useful information to develop diabetic prevention and management strategies through intestinal microbioma.
Previous studies in Europe and China have shown that these drinks are changing the intestinal microbiota, but this is the first study to analyze whether these changes They influence metabolism and increase the risk of diabetes. It is also the first to focus on the Spanish population of the United States, a group that brings together high diabetes figures and high consumption of sugary drinks.
The researchers analyzed data from the Hispanic Community Health Study of Latinos (Acts/Sun), a study with more than 16,000 participants in the cities of San Diego, Chicago, Miami and the New York Bronx. During a first visit, the participants reported their diet of the last 24 hours and took them Blood samples to analyze their metabolites.
In a monitoring visit, They gathered fecale samples of 3 035 Participants to study the composition of his intestinal microbiota and his relationship with the consumption of sugary drinks. The results showed that the high consumption of these drinks (two or more a day) was associated with changes in the abundance of nine types of intestinal bacteria. Four of these species produce fatty acids with short chain, beneficial for glucose metabolism.
In general, bacteria were linked to sugary drinks related to more harmful metabolic profiles. And strangely enough, these effects do not do that They observed with sugar from solid food.
Tackle new studies
They also identified Associations between the consumption of sugary drinks and 56 metabolites in the bloodSeveral of them produced or modified by the intestinal microbiota, which were linked to poorer indicators, such as high levels of glucose and insulin on fasting, body mass speeds and a higher waist-waist ratio, and reduced levels of HDL-cholesterol (“good”).
Moreover, the People with high levels of these metabolites They showed a greater risk of developing diabetes in the following decade. “We have discovered that different metabolites with regard to the microbiota are associated with the risk of diabetes, which suggests that the disease could predict,” Qi explained.
However, because microbiota samples were only taken in part of the participants, it was not possible to determine if Some certain types of bacteria are immediately connected With the risk of diabetes. Researchers are planning to tackle this problem in future studies.
The team will also try to validate and analyze these findings in other populations whether they are microbial metabolites involved in other chronic diseases associated with sugar consumptionSuch as cardiovascular diseases.