# Effect of Artificially Sweetened Beverages on Diabetes Control in Adults with Type 2 Diabetes

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-IRVINE · 2021 · $642,108

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
 Diet beverages sweetened with artificial sweeteners (AS) occupy a unique category in the food
environment as they are a source of intensely sweet taste with no calories or nutrients. Diet beverages are the
single largest contributor to AS intake in the U.S. diet, and consumption of diet beverages has significantly
increased over the past 30 plus years in concert with the twin epidemics of obesity and type 2 diabetes. A
burgeoning body of basic, clinical, and population research suggests that diet beverages are linked with
obesity, decline in kidney function, and increased risk of metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, and
cardiovascular disease. Other developing research has suggested diet beverages and the AS that sweeten
them may alter gut hormones, the gut microbiome, taste preferences, satiety, and overall dietary intake, thus
providing plausible mechanisms whereby disease risk may be altered. These initial reports, and related
hyperbolic media coverage, have sparked both scientific and public interest in the role that diet beverages may
play in health. Despite this budding framework of knowledge, the evidence base is largely uninformed by
randomized clinical trials testing whether intake of diet beverages impacts measures of clinical risk.
 Furthermore, an issue central to this topic is the lack of research addressing the population with
diabetes, perhaps the most important population with respect to diet beverage intake. People with diabetes
are the highest consumers of diet beverages, tending to consume them as a replacement for dietary sources of
sugar, especially in place of sugar-sweetened beverages. This behavior has been endorsed by dietetic and
scientific organizations, and diet beverages are marketed as being synonymous with better health, suitable for
weight loss, and thus advantageous for diabetes control. The underlying public health concern is that there are
few data to support or refute the benefit or harm of habitual diet beverage consumption by people with
diabetes. To begin addressing this important scientific gap we propose to test the effect of diet beverage
intake on diabetes control parameters in free-living adults with type 2 diabetes in a randomized, two arm
parallel trial with a run-in period of 2-weeks and an active intervention period of 12-weeks. We will recruit 240
patients with type 2 diabetes who are usual consumers of commercial diet beverages and randomize them to
receive and consume either: 1) A commercial diet beverage of choice (3 servings or 24 oz. daily); or 2)
Unflavored bottled water of choice (sparkling or plain) (3 servings or 24 oz. daily). The primary outcome will be
a central measure of clinical diabetes control in glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), and we will also measure
cardiometabolic risk and kidney function. Additionally, we will measure plausible mechanisms whereby diet
beverage intake may alter risk by assessing the effect of diet beverage intake on the functional composition of
t...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10163173
- **Project number:** 5R01DK117028-04
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-IRVINE
- **Principal Investigator:** Andrew Owen Odegaard
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $642,108
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-09-15 → 2023-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10163173

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10163173, Effect of Artificially Sweetened Beverages on Diabetes Control in Adults with Type 2 Diabetes (5R01DK117028-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10163173. Licensed CC0.

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