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New findings suggest that higher consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks — but not 100 percent fruit juice — may be associated with insulin resistance, even in otherwise healthy adults. Steady increases in consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages over the last several decades along with increases of the incidence of Type 2 diabetes mellitus, led nutritional epidemiologists at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (USDA HNRCA) at Tufts University and colleagues to explore the relationship between sugar-sweetened beverage consumption and insulin resistance, a precursor to Type 2 diabetes. The study was published in the September issue of "The Journal of Nutrition".

The study was comprised of 2,500 healthy men and women in the Framingham Offspring Study, a community-based study of cardiovascular disease among offspring of people in the original Framingham Heart Study. Participants reported their usual dietary intake for the previous year, which researchers used to determine average intakes of sugar-sweetened drinks, diet soft drinks, and fruit juice. Participants who drank two or more sugar-sweetened beverages a day had significantly higher fasting blood levels of insulin as compared to participants who did not report consuming any such beverages.

Study administrators note this also may be a consequence of the healthier lifestyle and dietary habits of fruit juice consumers. They were less likely to smoke than non-consumers, and consumed diets relatively lower in saturated fat and higher in total fiber.