Risk Factor Linking Cancer Development With Sugary Beverages Identified

If you are someone who loves drinking sweetened drinks or other sugar-rich fruit juices, sports drinks and energy drinks, then this is for you. A new study has recently revealed that researchers at LSU Health New Orleans have found the link between sugary drinks and increased risk of developing cancer.

According to NDTV, Melinda Sothern, a Professor at Louisiana State University Health Sciences in New Orleans, US said that there has recently been increasing evidence connecting consuming sugar-sweetened beverages and the risk of developing pancreatic and endometrial cancer. The pieces of evidence also suggest that there is a good chance that colon cancer can come back, and could also cause death among cancer survivors.

The data was about the soda consumption, fruit-flavored drinks, sweetened fruit juices, sports drinks, energy drinks, sweetened teas and coffees and other sugar-sweetened drinks of 22,182 adults which participated in the study. They also looked into the participants' history with cancer, smoking, obesity status and also considered the demographic characteristics including age, gender, race, educational level, and poverty/income ratio.

Results showed that the effects of having sugar-sweetened beverages differ depending on the type of cancer and were also found to be somehow connected to someone's age. Indian Express reported that sugar intake or having sugar- sweetened beverage has been revealed to have a positive association with obesity, diabetes, and cardiometabolic diseases, as well as some cancers. However, for those people who have survived cancer's wrath, having a lot of sugar intake will be a significant risk 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 Sothern, a Ph.D. holder, 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," she explained to LSU Health.

Medical Daily also reported that dead author Tung-Sung Tseng, Associate Professor of Public Health at LSU Health New Orleans, also observed that people are not exactly sure how much sugar they really have from these types of drinks. However, Tseng said that according to 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. "Although consuming added sugar is not recommended, people are not usually aware of how much sugar they get from sugar-sweetened beverages," said Tseng.

Meanwhile, intervention programs to reduce consumption of added sugar are focused on those with lower socioeconomic status, young males, as well as cervical cancer survivors, the researchers suggested. They also believe that customized intervention to lower added sugar consumption be conducted for both non-cancer individuals and cancer survivors in communities and the medical care system.