Swapping a daily can of Coke for a cup of coffee or tea cuts the risk of premature death in diabetics by a quarter, according to Harvard research

Swapping sugary soft drinks for tea and coffee can cut your chances of dying from type 2 diabetes by a quarter, research suggests.

Ease of commerce has been linked to lower rates of early death from cardiovascular disease — such as heart attacks and strokes — and other causes.

Researchers analyzed data from 15,486 people with type 2 diabetes, including information about what beverages they usually consumed.

During a median follow-up of 18.5 years, approximately 22 percent (3,447) developed cardiovascular disease and nearly half (7,638) died during this period.

Those who drank the most sugary drinks were a fifth more likely to die prematurely from any cause, according to the results.

However, those who drank more coffee – up to six cups a day – had a 26 percent lower risk of premature death.

Those who preferred tea had a 21 percent lower risk, water 23 percent and skimmed milk 12 percent.

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Those who drank more coffee, tea or water had an approximately 18 percent lower risk of dying early compared to those who did not change their drinking habits after being diagnosed with diabetes.

For cardiovascular disease in particular, sugary drinks are linked to a 25 percent higher risk of developing the disease and a 29 percent higher risk of dying from it.

Coffee and low-fat milk were associated with a lower risk, according to results published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ).

The authors emphasized that their findings were observations rather than evidence of cause and effect.

However, they concluded that replacing sugary drinks, artificially sweetened drinks, fruit juices, or whole milk with coffee, tea, or plain water “was consistently associated with lower all-cause mortality.”

Lead author Qi Sun, from Harvard University in the US, said: “People with diabetes may particularly benefit from drinking healthy drinks, but there is little data.

“These findings help fill this knowledge gap and can educate patients and their caregivers about nutrition and diabetes management.”

She added, “People with diabetes need to be selective about how they hydrate.” Switching from sugar-sweetened beverages to healthier beverages has health benefits.

The results come a day after it was revealed that the soup and shake diet can permanently reverse diabetes if people maintain their weight.