Diabetes, colorectal cancer… we already know that highly sugary drinks are not good for our health. A new study has established a link between daily consumption of these beverages and stomach cancer. People who drink at least one a day may have more than twice the risk, or even …
Diabetes, colorectal cancer… we already know that highly sugary drinks are not good for our health. A new study has established a link between daily consumption of these beverages and stomach cancer. People who drink at least one a day may have more than twice, or even three times, the risk compared with those who never consume them.
Several factors are known to promote the development of stomach cancer: certain infections (including the bacterium Helicobacter pylori), smoking and alcohol, as well as dietary habits such as eating large amounts of very salty foods or grilled meat and, conversely, too few fruits and vegetables.
A study involving 177,000 people
Sugary drinks have already been implicated in several types of cancer (colon, breast, liver), but until now, there has been no concrete evidence concerning stomach cancer. For the first time, a large epidemiological study conducted in the United States and published in Gastro Hep Advances suggests that drinking sugary beverages every day may increase the risk of stomach cancer, whereas this does not appear to be the case with beverages containing artificial sweeteners.
The researchers based their work on two long-term U.S. studies: the Nurses’ Health Study (NHS, conducted since 1976 among 121,700 women aged 30 to 55) and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study (HPFS, conducted since 1986 among 51,529 men aged 40 to 75). A total of 278 cases of stomach cancer were recorded.
The researchers also examined participants’ consumption habits regarding beverages containing added sugar (sodas, lemonades, punches and energy drinks), excluding fresh fruit juices because they contain no added sugar.
To compare dietary habits, participants were divided into five consumption categories: those who drank these beverages less than once a month, one to three times a month, one to three times a week, four to seven times a week, or more than once a day.
The increase in risk appeared only among people who drank these beverages more than once a day (with one serving defined as 237 ml). In this group, the risk of stomach cancer was far from negligible, being 2.45 times higher. The difference was even more pronounced among the women in the NHS, whose risk was three times higher, compared with a doubled risk among the men in the HPFS.
No link with artificially sweetened beverages
The researchers also wanted to determine whether beverages containing artificial sweeteners could likewise be associated with stomach cancer. However, they found no difference. Even daily consumption did not appear to alter the level of risk.
Why investigate this question? Because aspartame is a common sweetener that has been classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) as “possibly carcinogenic.” The researchers pointed out that this issue remains highly debated, as studies have not produced consistent results.
The mechanism remains hypothetical
Although the potential cancer-causing impact of drinking beverages with added sugar on a daily basis is increasingly suspected, researchers do not yet know the underlying mechanism.
Several explanations have been proposed.
These beverages could contribute to weight gain, interfere with the way the body uses insulin, or alter the balance of certain steroid hormones. They could also promote inflammation, cause DNA damage, or disrupt the balance of bacteria in the gut (dysbiosis).
The researchers acknowledge several limitations to their work. Because this is an observational study, the results show only an association between consumption of sugary drinks and stomach cancer. They do not establish that these beverages are directly responsible for the development of the disease. Nevertheless, this large-scale study, conducted using a rigorous methodology, is the first to highlight this association, which the researchers consider highly suspicious.
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