July 28, 2008 -- Diabetes is on the rise in the U.S, and three new studies shed more light on how diet affects your odds of developing type 2 diabetes.

Each study covers a different aspect of diet. Together, the studies show that diabetes risk may rise if you drink too many sodas and sweetened fruit drinks, fall if you eat more fruits and vegetables, and may not be affected by how much fat you eat.

But there's another key theme that runs through the studies: There's no getting around calories. Blow your calorie budget and you'll gain weight, which makes type 2 diabetes more likely.

"Until we have more information, we have to assume that calories trump everything else, and that our No. 1 goal for the reduction of new cases of type 2 diabetes should be to reduce the intake of high-energy, low-benefit foods," especially in young people at high risk of diabetes, write Mark Feinglos, MD, CM, and Susan Totten, RD, from Duke University Medical Center.

Here's a quick look at each of the studies, published with Feinglos and Totten's commentary in the Archives of Internal Medicine.