The obesity risks of sugary drinks are well known – and yet consumption around the world continues to increase year on year.
Now, a worrying new study has been published suggesting their may be a link between these fizzy drinks and cancer.
The study, outlined in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), says the research showed drinking sugary drinks is ‘significantly associated with the risk of overall cancer.’
The study involved 101,257 participants (21% men; 79% women) all of whom were healthy and aged over 18. The average participant age was 42 years.
To begin with, the participants completed questionnaires that was designed to measure their average intake of 3,300 different kinds of food and beverages.
They were then followed by the research team for up to nine years (from 2009 to 2018) who measured their daily consumption of sugary drinks which included sugar sweetened drinks like cola and 100% fruit juices. When instances of cancer were first reported to the study, it was validates by medical records and health insurance databases.
Over the course of the study, 2,193 first cases of cancer were diagnosed and validated (693 breast cancers, 291 prostate cancers, and 166 colorectal cancers).
The average age at which a cancer diagnosis was made was 59 years.
The research team concluded that a 100ml per day increase in the consumption of sugary drinks was associated with an 18% increased risk of overall cancer and a 22% increased risk of breast cancer.
Part of that may be the inherent weight gain that comes with drinking lots and lots of sugar.
‘The association between sugary drinks and the risk of cancer might be partly explained by their effect on overweight and obesity onset, since in turn, excess weight is a strong risk factor for mouth, pharynx, larynx, oesophageal (adenocarcinoma), stomach (cardia), pancreatic, gallbladder, liver, colorectal, breast (postmenopause), ovarian, endometrial, prostate (advanced), and kidney cancers,’ explains the BMJ.
It goes on to say that this study was more about observing the link, rather than explaining why it’s there.
‘This is an observational study, so can’t establish cause, and the authors say they cannot rule out some misclassification of beverages or guarantee detection of every new cancer case,’ the authors write.
‘Nevertheless, the study sample was large and they were able to adjust for a wide range of potentially influential factors. What’s more, the results were largely unchanged after further testing, suggesting that the findings withstand scrutiny.’
To validate the results further, the authors say that other large studies of this kind need to be carried out. In the meantime, they say that for the sake of our collective health, it might not be a bad idea to tax sugary drinks even further.
They conclude: ‘These data support the relevance of existing nutritional recommendations to limit sugary drink consumption, including 100% fruit juice, as well as policy actions, such as taxation and marketing restrictions targeting sugary drinks, which might potentially contribute to the reduction of cancer incidence.’
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