How are sugary beverages linked to cancer?

by Stepy — October 4, 2016

Excess sugar intake is linked to many health problems. Recent research has shown that high sugar intake can greatly increase heart disease risk, and a new MRI technique even confirmed that cancer cells feed on sugar.

“A piece of fruit, or even a treat like ice cream, isn’t going to cause you too much trouble… provided it truly is just that – a treat and not something that you overindulge in,” says Dr. Joseph Mercola, a leading health expert and physician. “Most Americans, however, are overindulging – and that’s putting it mildly. The average American consumes one-third of a pound of sugar per day, half of which is processed fructose.”

A study from LSU Health New Orleans dug deeper into the link between sugary drinks and cancer. The researchers found that age is a major factor.

“The objective of this study was to closely evaluate the risk factors of sugar consumption from sugar-sweetened beverages among cancer survivors and people not diagnosed with cancer, and to our knowledge, no other studies have examined sugar-sweetened beverage intake in cancer survivors,” said Melinda Sothern, PhD, Professor of Public Health at LSU Health New Orleans and senior author. “Recently growing evidence suggests a link between sugar-sweetened beverage consumption and the risk of pancreatic and endometrial cancer, as well as the risk of colon cancer recurrence and death among cancer survivors. ”

In the study, the researchers examined over 22,000 adults. The participants were given a survey measuring sugar intake, cancer, smoking, and obesity status.

According to the study abstract:

For the overall study population, 15.7% had high sugar intake from sugar-sweetened drinks. People with no cancer history had a higher sugar intake than cancer survivors, although this could be due to other factors including older age and gender. The sugar intake from sugar-sweetened beverages among women with cervical cancer history was much higher (60g/day) compared to other cancer survivors who consumed only around 30-40 g/day. The research team also found that individuals who had high sugar intake (?80g/day sugar) from sugar-sweetened beverages were younger, male, black, obese, current smokers, low-income, or had education levels at or below high school.

“Although consuming added sugar is not recommended, people are not usually aware of how much sugar they get from sugar-sweetened beverages,” says lead author Tung-Sung Tseng, DrPH, Associate Professor of Public Health at LSU Health New Orleans. “The American Heart Association recommends a consumption goal of no more than 450 kilocalories (kcal) of sugar-sweetened beverages or fewer than three 12-ounce cans of soda per week.”

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