Aspartame - the ingredient in many diet colas, tea & lemonade is actually a poison and is thought to be one of the many causes of diabetes. The rate of diabetes in 1950 was .78% of population, today it is 11%. I believe the biggest culprit in this growth are the synthetic sugars (like aspartame) and the genetically modified foods, in addition to the additives in our bread and cereal as mandated by congress. These additives actually makes one gain weight and are not easily digestible by the body. Forecasts for the growth of diabetes are absolutely alarming - soon we’ll be into Black Death territory - its already a pandemic, just no one’s calling it that.
Have you noticed that HFCS, fake sugars, corn by-products, and soy have become the main ingredients of processed foods? I make all of our bread now because I can’t find any, without paying a fortune at an artisanal shop, with minimal ingredients. My recipe is whole wheat flour, water, olive oil, honey, yeast, salt. Look at a loaf of “healthy” bread ingredients from the store shelf. The list is a mile long and unpronounceable!
I was talking to a professional person about some medical problems and that came up. I have also cut back on the processed stuff as much as I can.
"I believe". Anyone can believe anything. Fortunately, the scientific method does not rely on "I believe" to answer questions of causation or we'd still be in the Dark Ages on a lot of things.
But using ordinary logic and inference, it is more likely the increase in diabetes in linked with the general increase in body mass than with any particular ingredient of food.