Another Reason To Shun Sodas
Drinking even one soft drink a day could increase your risk of cancer, according to a new study from Australia. But contrary to what the researchers originally assumed, the sugar – not just the calories – in soda may be to blame for the added cancer risk. The team from the Cancer Council Victoria and the University of Melbourne identified 3,283 cases of cancers commonly associated with obesity among more than 35,000 Australians. Initially, the investigators believed that habitually consuming soft drinks contributed to obesity, a cancer risk factor, which would explain the cancers seen. Surprisingly, the research team found that the increased cancer risk from drinking sodas existed regardless of whether or not participants were overweight. They also reported that the more sugary soft drinks consumed, the higher the cancer risk. After finding that no such cancer risk existed for those who preferred diet drinks they theorized that the sugar in the drinks might be responsible. The team now wants to see the findings confirmed by further studies and to determine if sugar itself is to blame for the increased cancer risk. In the meantime, they suggested minimizing consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks..
Source:
Allison M. Hodge et al, “Consumption of sugar-sweetened and artificially sweetened soft drinks and risk of obesity-related cancers.” Public Health Nutrition, February 21, 2018, doi.org/10.1017/S1368980017002555
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