Yet again, researchers have shown that an increased consumption of sugar drives cancer, this time looking at how a second serving of sugar-sweetened drinks can more than double the risk of colorectal cancer.
Consumption of sugar sweetened drinks has increased substantially since 2020, in teenagers and adults in the USA. At the same time, colorectal cancer diagnosis seems to be found in ever-younger people. Other studies have suggested overuse of antibiotics may play a role (2). However, no study has looked at the possible role of sugar in increasing colorectal cancer risks.
A large team of researchers from Harvard, Harvard TH Chan and MIT amongst others reviewed data in the Nurses’ Health Study II (1991–2015), and prospectively investigated the association of Sugar Sweetened Beverage (SSB) intake with colorectal cancer risk among 95,464 women on the validated food frequency questionnaires every 4 years (1).
A group of 41,272 participants from a validated high school questionnaire, reported use in ages 13–18 years in 1998.
Higher sugar-sweetened beverage consumption considerably increased colorectal cancer risk. Compared to people who consumed less than one beverage, those consuming two or more had 2.2 times the risk of developing colorectal cancer. Each incremental serving amongst teenagers increased risk further by 32%.
Chris Woollams, former Oxford University Biochemist, added. “How many times do cancer patients hear oncologists and nurses say sugar doesn’t feed cancer? Ignoring research doesn’t help cancer patients.”
Go to: 20 links between sugar and cancer
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References
- Gut, Vol 70, issue 12; Sugar-sweetened beverage intake in adulthood and adolescence and risk of early-onset colorectal cancer among women; Jinhee Hur et al; https://gut.bmj.com/content/70/12/2330
- Colorectal cancer linked to taking antibiotics - https://www.canceractive.com/article/colorectal-cancer-linked-to-taking-antibiotics