Sugary drinks and cancer
We’re consuming more sugary drinks as the years go by. That’s been of concern because sugary drinks are linked to a host of negative health outcomes – things like weight gain and obesity, type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure.
This negative association is part of the reason why many governments around the world have considered, or even implemented, a sugar tax which makes sugary drinks more expensive and less appealing to consume because of their painful price point. But we still don’t know the full impact of sweet drinks – especially when it comes to cancer.
In this study, French researchers looked at a cohort of people who had answered questions about nutrition and their health.
There were more than a hundred thousand people, which is a big sample size – and over a five year period, they were asked about their diet including the sweetened drinks – things like soft drinks, energy drinks and fruit juices, they consumed, at different points in time.
Other health information was also collected – such as whether the people smoked or drank a lot, which could influence the overall results. About three quarters of the study group were women.
The researchers found there was a link between consuming more sugary drinks and a higher risk of cancer. More specifically, there was also a link found between sugary drink consumption and breast cancer.
The link remained when the researchers looked particularly at sugary fruit drinks. But there didn’t seem to be a link between artificially-sweetened beverages (think sugar-free soft drink options) and increased risk of cancer.
Implications
Measures to reduce sweet drink consumption – both individual and at a population level – remain as important as ever.
