In an attempt to assess the bigger picture, researchers are said to have gone through the findings of 11 previously published studies involving more than 320,000 participants.

The study revealed that the intake of one or two sugar-sweetened beverages a day was likely to increase the risk of diabetes by almost 26%.

Vasanti Malik, ScD, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Harvard School of Public Health said, “Drinking sugar-sweetened beverages is certainly and consistently associated with an increased risk of diabetes and metabolic syndrome”.

The risk of developing diabetes was likely to augment due to including high blood pressure, elevated fasting blood sugar, high triglycerides, low HDL, and large waist size.

Without including the fruit juice without added sweeteners, the researchers are said to have studied sugar-sweetened soft drinks, fruit drinks, iced tea, and energy and vitamin water drinks.

She said people who were in a habit of consuming such drinks on an everyday basis had a 26% increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes and a 20% increased risk for developing metabolic syndrome. This is in opposition to the ones who went for such beverages once in a month or not at all.