INS and rheumatoid arthritis: This conclusion is further supported by the 2014 prospective epidemiologic study of nearly 200,000 women (Nurses Health Studies), which found that the association between regular consumption of ndSD and seropositive rheumatoid arthritis in women (but not with diet soda) was independent of diabetes history.4 This suggests that the link with RA may be driven, at least in part, by factors other than glycemic load, β cell malfunction, and insulin insensitivity.