International Bottled Water Association | NEWS RELEASE | November 15, 2017
Bottled water industry highlights water’s important role in helping prevent disease on World Diabetes Day
Alexandria, VA – Drinking water instead of one 8-ounce sugar-sweetened beverage can save a person about 100 calories, which can be meaningful in the long run in helping prevent chronic diseases such as diabetes. Today, the International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) is reminding the public of water’s important role in helping people live healthier lifestyles and is joining other organizations and groups around the world in recognizing World Diabetes Day.
One of these groups, Public Health Advocates (PHA), is holding its PHA Diabetes Conference in Sacramento, CA, today (November 14, 2017), and IBWA is proud to be a sponsor of this event, which is working to build health equity by linking community-based diabetes prevention and clinical treatment.
“Staying well hydrated can help with managing blood sugar levels,” said Jill Culora, IBWA’s vice president of communications. “As David Edelman from Diabetes Daily tells us, our blood is 83 percent water. When we lose water, the volume of blood decreases and the sugar remains the same. More concentrated blood sugar means higher blood sugars.”
Water is also needed for our kidneys to flush out extra glucose, according to diabetesselfmanagement.com. “For people with diabetes, the risk of dehydration is greater, because higher than normal blood glucose depletes fluids. To get rid of the glucose, the kidneys will try to pass it out in the urine, but that takes water. So the higher your blood glucose, the more fluids you should drink, which is why thirst is one of the main symptoms of diabetes,” this website reports.
Water is also an excellent beverage to consume when trying to lower the risk of type 2 diabetes. Water avoids the extra calories, caffeine, sugar, and other ingredients found in sugary beverages, Culora said.
“Water plays a vital role in supporting nutritional health. Forty seven percent (47%) of added sugars in our diets come from beverages – and account for 20 percent of our daily caloric intake. It is clear that consumers can benefit from being more aware of what they drink and reducing their calorie consumption from beverages,” she said.
Drinking one or two bottles of sugar-sweetened beverages a day increases the risk for getting diabetes by almost 30%—and triples the risk of dying from a heart attack. And after six months, daily consumption of these sugary beverages increases liver fat by almost 150%, according to Dr. Harold Goldstein, executive director of Public Health Advocates.
Drinking water instead of sugary beverages is also important when trying to maintain or lose weight. IBWA encourages consumers to make healthy choices in their daily lives and choose water as their beverage of choice, whether it’s at home, at the office, or on the go.
World Diabetes Day was created in 1991 by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) as a response to the growing threat of diabetes.
The World Diabetes Day campaign reaches an audience of more than 1 billion people in more than 160 countries.
The World Diabetes Day campaign aims to:
Be the platform to promote IDF advocacy efforts throughout the year.
Be the global driver to promote the importance of taking coordinated and concerted actions to confront diabetes as a critical global health issue.
For more information about world diabetes day, visit worlddiabetesday.org.
For more information about bottled water, visit bottledwater.org.
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Media Contact:
Jill Culora
jculora@bottledwater.org
703.647.4609
The International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) is the authoritative source of information about all types of bottled waters, including spring, mineral, purified, artesian, and sparkling. Founded in 1958, IBWA’s membership includes U.S. and international bottlers, distributors and suppliers. IBWA is committed to working with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which regulates bottled water as a packaged food product, to set comprehensive and stringent standards for safe, high-quality bottled water products.
In addition to FDA regulations, IBWA member bottlers must adhere to the IBWA Bottled Water Code of Practice, which mandates additional standards and practices that in some cases are more stringent than federal and state regulations. A key feature of the IBWA Bottled Water Code of Practice is a mandatory annual plant inspection by an independent, third-party organization.
IBWA is proud to be a partner with Keep America Beautiful and a supporter of Drink Up, an initiative of former First Lady Michelle Obama and the Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA), which encourages Americans to drink more water more often – whether from the tap, a filter, or in a bottle. Choosing water is always the healthy choice.
