The challenge may not be suitable for everyone, and we recommend that you discuss the challenge with your health care professional before taking part if you are unsure. If you start this challenge and it impacts on your health and wellbeing, we advise that you stop and speak to a healthcare professional. We have other fundraising challenges on our website that may be more suitable for you.

There are times when you might need a sugary drink to manage your diabetes.This might be to treat a hypo or to maintain blood sugar levels within your target range, for example during physical activity. It is very important that you have a sugary drink if you need to during the challenge to manage your diabetes and stay safe.

You should be able to continue to eat as normal during this challenge. If you normally have milk on your cereal or enjoy homemade soups these do not have to be replaced with water as these might form an important part of your diet. Milk is a great source of calcium which is important for our bones and teeth.

If you are replacing any carbohydrate containing drinks you may normally have such as smoothies, fruit juices or milkshakes and you monitor your blood sugar levels you may find that your blood sugar levels are lower than normal.  We don’t recommend replacing the sugar from your drinks for another type of sugar, it’s important to eat a healthy balanced diet.  You may need to adjust the doses of your diabetes medication. Speak to your diabetes team for advice on this if you are unsure what changes need to be made. If you are finding it difficult to manage your blood sugar levels during the challenge, please speak to a health care professional. 

By replacing any of the drinks you might have had before such as smoothies, non-diet drinks, milkshakes, hot chocolate, and fruit juices, you will be reducing the free sugars that all of us, whether we have diabetes or not, need to cut back on. Free sugars provide calories making it harder to manage your weight. Sugary drinks, even non-diet fizzy drinks, can cause tooth decay.  

Caffeine is found in many beverages including cola drinks, tea, coffee, hot chocolate, some herbal drinks, cocoa, and energy drinks so swapping these drinks for water will help reduce your caffeine intake. This is good news as caffeine is a stimulant and too much can cause effects such as anxiety, difficulty sleeping, palpitations and headaches. Caffeine in pregnancy should be limited to no more than 200 mg a day as regularly drinking more than this can increase your risk of pregnancy complications.

We all need to drink fluid every day and current government guidance recommends 6-8 cups or glasses of fluid per day. There are rare instances when drinking too much water could cause health problems. If someone is very thirsty and drinks too much water, it can cause something called hyponatremia, which means low sodium levels in the blood which can be life threatening. 

People that have certain medical conditions such as kidney disease or heart disease may need to limit the amount of fluid they drink.  If you have an underlying medical condition that requires a fluid restriction, please speak with a health care professional before undertaking the Only Water challenge.

If you are replacing any carbohydrate drinks you may normally have such as smoothies, fruit juices and milkshakes you might need to adjust your insulin doses.

We would advise that you speak to your HCP/diabetes team first when talking about adjusting insulin doses.

If you replace carbohydrate drinks you normally have with water your blood sugar levels might be lower than normal. If you find that the challenge makes your diabetes difficult to manage it’s best to talk to your diabetes team. If you find that the challenge is making you unwell, we advise that you stop the challenge.  

During the challenge you might need to treat a hypo with your usual treatment which might be a drink that contains fast acting carbohydrates. It’s important that you treat a hypo safely and effectively during the challenge.

If you treat your diabetes with diabetes medication that can cause hypos such as insulin and Sulphonylureas, it’s important to speak to your diabetes team before replacing any carbohydrate containing drinks you may normally have such as smoothies, fruit juices and milkshakes with water. That's because these drinks contain carbohydrate and any carbohydrate that you eat and drink is broken down into glucose. So if you are swapping your usual carbohydrate containing drink with water (which does not contain any carbohydrate) your blood sugar levels might be lower than usual. Your diabetes team can provide you with all the information you need about how your diabetes might be affected and advise you if you need to adjust your medication. If you find the challenge makes your diabetes difficult to manage, it’s best to talk to your diabetes team. If you find that the challenge is making you unwell, we advise that you stop the challenge.   

During the challenge, if you experience a hypo this should treated with your usual hypo treatment such as a fast acting sugary (non-diet) drink or a small carton of pure fruit juice. It’s important that you treat hypo’s safely and effectively during the challenge.

With type 1 diabetes we know that diet is not linked to developing the condition. The causes of type 2 diabetes are multiple and complex.However, we do know there is a link between having full-sugar soft drinks and type 2 diabetes. Cutting down on these can help to reduce your risk and manage your weight too.

It is the carbohydrate contained in drinks which impact your blood glucose levels.However, it is recommended people reduce their caffeine intake gradually because if you do it too quickly it can give you withdrawal headaches. Some health experts recommend cutting down your intake by half a cup of caffeinated drinks a day over a week for example. If you are pregnant the advice is to limit caffeine to 200mg a day. A cup of coffee has approximately 75 mg and it is important never to exceed this as it can cause pregnancy complications, including low birth weight and miscarriage.

For any question around this we would advise that you speak to your HCP/diabetes team first.

If you are following any meal replacement diet that has been recommended by a healthcare professional you can continue with this, as these products count as food and should be providing you with important nutrients.

If you take a prescribed supplement drink every day, it is important you continue to do so and follow the advice given by your healthcare professional.