A longitudinal study found no association between sweetening coffee or tea and a heightened risk of diabetes and all-cause mortality. Image credit:
Researchers from Denmark and the Netherlands analyzed data from the longitudinal Copenhagen Male Study to see whether adding sugar to coffee or tea could impact health outcomes.
They looked at the incidence of diabetes, deaths caused by heart disease or cancer, and all-cause mortality.
The researchers found that adding sugar to coffee or tea did not pose additional health risks to a significant extent.
An excess of sugar in a person’s diet can lead to health issues, including tooth decayTrusted Source, obesityTrusted Source, and heart diseaseTrusted Source.
The American Heart AssociationTrusted Source recommends no more than 9 teaspoons of added sugar for men and 6 teaspoons of added sugar for women per day, but many people often exceed that.
With one can of soda containing more than the recommended maximum daily sugar intake for both men and women, it is easy to exceed those recommendations.
Recently, a team of researchers from institutions in Denmark, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, wondered if adding sugar to one’s daily cup of coffee or tea is as harmful to health as commonly assumed.
Analyzing data from the Copenhagen Male Study, the scientists did not find an increased risk of all-cause mortality, diabetes, or deaths attributed to cancer or heart disease in men who added sugar to coffee or tea.
The study findings appear in PLOS ONETrusted Source.
Whittling down the participant pool The Copenhagen Male Study began during the 1970s and focused on Danish men ages 40-59 when the study began.
Part of the initial workup included assessing the men’s heart and lung health, plus getting the men to complete questionnaires about their lifestyles.
During one of the follow-up appointments, doctors measured the participants’ blood pressure, height, and weight. One of the questionnaires the participants completed at this time asked about their coffee and tea intake, and whether they added sugar to these drinks.
