NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Drinking lots of sugar-sweetened
cola may increase women's likelihood of developing diabetes
during pregnancy, a condition known as gestational diabetes, new
research shows. Compared to women who had less than one such
beverage a month, women who drank at least five servings of non-
diet cola a week were at greater risk of gestational diabetes,
even after accounting for their body mass index (BMI), level of
physical activity, and other diabetes risk factors, researchers
found. Sugar-sweetened beverages are the top source of added
sugar in US diets, and several studies have linked high sugary
drink intake with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes in women,
Dr. Liwei Chen of the Louisiana State University Health Science
Center in New Orleans and colleagues note in the latest edition
of the journal Diabetes Care. But there is little information on
whether consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages before
pregnancy might increase gestational diabetes risk, they add. To
investigate, the re