The Study
Sugar and low/no-calorie-sweetened beverage consumption and associations with body weight and waist circumference changes in five European cohort studies: the SWEET project
This study looked at what people ate and drank over many years and noticed that people who drank more sugary or diet sodas tended to gain a little weight. But it didn’t prove that the drinks caused the weight gain — maybe people who were already gaining weight just started drinking diet soda to try to lose weight.
Analysis score
Maximum 43 for a systematic review with meta-analysis.
Where the score came from
Scientists looked at what people drank over many years and saw if it changed their weight or waist size. They compared sugary drinks, diet drinks, and water.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 543 / 100
Quality score
Systematic reviews and meta-analyses of cohort studies. They sit above a single cohort study but below a single randomized trial, because the underlying evidence is still observational.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1The changes are very small — less than a teaspoon of sugar’s weight per year — so they’re unlikely to matter much for most people’s health in daily life.
- 2People who drank sugary drinks gained a tiny bit of weight each year (+0.02 kg).
- 3People who drank diet drinks gained a little more weight each year (+0.06 kg).
- 4Switching sugary drinks to diet drinks or water didn’t change weight.
- 5But women who switched diet drinks to water lost a tiny bit of waist size (-0.10 cm/year).
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
European Journal of Nutrition
Year
2023
Authors
Marion E. C. Buso, E. Brouwer-Brolsma, N. Naomi, J. Ngo, S. Soedamah-Muthu, C. Mavrogianni, J. Harrold, J. Halford, A. Raben, J. Geleijnse, Y. Manios, L. Serra-Majem, E. Feskens
Related Content
Claims (5)
People who drink more sugar-sweetened beverages gain a small amount of weight and waist size each year compared to those who drink less, based on data from five European studies.
People who drink more low- or no-calorie sweetened beverages gain a small amount of weight each year—about 0.06 kilograms—regardless of how few calories these drinks contain.
Replacing sugary drinks with diet drinks or water does not change body weight or waist size in adults over the long term.
People who regularly consume low-calorie sweeteners tend to have more abdominal fat and larger waist measurements compared to those who do not.
In women, switching from low-calorie sweetened drinks to water is linked to a small yearly decrease in waist size, but this change does not occur in men.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.