February 8, 2010 — A large study of 60,000 adults in Singapore financed by the U.S. National Cancer Institute  revealed that drinking as few as two sugar-sweetened soft drinks per week raises risks for cancer of the pancreas by 87%. People who consumed natural fruit juices instead of sugary sodas did not show higher cancer risks. The study was published today in the scientific journal “Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.”

The difference between the two kinds of sweet beverages is in the type of sugar each contains. Sodas contain high levels of sugars like dextrose, glucose or sucrose, while fruit juices contain mainly fructose. Some sodas marketed in the USA contain HFCS high fructose corn syrup, which is usually about 1/2 fructose and 1/2 glucose. In Singapore where the study was conducted, sodas usually contain mainly sucrose, but sometimes contain HFCS.

Sugars like glucose, sucrose or dextrose work in the body to stimulate the production of insulin by the pancreas. Insulin is then circulated in the blood throughout the body, where it stimulates the uptake of sugars from the blood down into the cells where it can be burned or metabolized and produce energy. Fruit-derived sugars like fructose does not stimulate the production of insulin.

Insulin plays many roles in the body, one of which is the generation of growth hormones and inflammation markers. It appears that these compounds work to increase risks for cancer when we eat sugar sweetened foods or drinks. These risks are especially high for the pancreas gland itself, which is where insulin is manufactured in response to eating sugar.

The study showed that several other factors did not participate in the added cancer risks, including smoking, meat consumption, and so on. Only sugar consumption appeared to increase pancreatic cancer risks. The leader of the study, Mark Pereira of the University of Minnesota, said “Sugar may be to blame but people who drink sweetened sodas regularly often have other poor health habits.” While some of those habits were controlled for or “zeroed out” in the study, there is a chance that some factors may have been ignored. Nonetheless, the results of this project appear to be conclusive and highly significant, until further research contradicts these conclusions.

Pancreatic cancer is a relatively rare and very deadly form of cancer. About 230,000 people per year are diagnosed with cancer of the pancreas, and only 5% of these patients live beyond 5 years. Almost everyone who gets pancreatic cancer will die from the disease. In some cases, they may live only a few weeks or months, even with the most aggressive treatment.

The shocking thing about this new research is how few sugary drinks per week is needed to raise risks by 87% — just 2 drinks.

Consumption of sugar in the diet have been associated with many diseases, including diabetes and obesity. Cancer is yet another disease now linked with eating or drinking sugar.

Many questions remain for scientists to answer, including whether substituting artificially sweetened drinks will prevent increased risks in a way similar to fruit juice consumption did, whether some other factors may have caused this problem other than sugar, and so on.

In the meanwhile, it appears that it is wise for us all to avoid sugar of any kind in the diet, other than that found naturally in whole foods.

For your convenience, we have presented the free abstract of the study below:

—

Soft Drink and Juice Consumption and Risk of Pancreatic Cancer: The Singapore Chinese Health Study

AUTHORS: Noel T. Mueller, Andrew Odegaard, Kristin Anderson, Jian-Min Yuan, Myron Gross, Woon-Puay Koh and Mark A. Pereira

Authors’ Affiliations: (1) Cancer Control Program, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, District of Columbia; (2) Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota; and 3Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore. Corresponding Author: Mark A. Pereira, Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, 1300 South Second Street, Suite 300, Minneapolis, MN 55454. Phone: 612-624-4173; Fax: 612-624-0315. E-mail: map@umn.edu

Background: Sugar-sweetened carbonated beverages (called soft drinks) and juices, which have a high glycemic load relative to other foods and beverages, have been hypothesized as pancreatic cancer risk factors. However, data thus far are scarce, especially from non-European descent populations. We investigated whether higher consumption of soft drinks and juice increases the risk of pancreatic cancer in Chinese men and women.

Methods: A prospective cohort analysis was done to examine the association between soft drink and juice consumption and the risk of pancreatic cancer in 60,524 participants of the Singapore Chinese Health Study with up to 14 years of follow-up. Information on consumption of soft drinks, juice, and other dietary items, as well as lifestyle and environmental exposures, was collected through in-person interviews at recruitment. Pancreatic cancer cases and deaths were ascertained by record linkage of the cohort database with records of population-based Singapore Cancer Registry and the Singapore Registry of Births and Deaths.

Results: The first 14 years for the cohort resulted in cumulative 648,387 person-years and 140 incident pancreatic cancer cases. Individuals consuming ?2 soft drinks/wk experienced a statistically significant increased risk of pancreatic cancer (hazard ratio, 1.87; 95% confidence interval, 1.10-3.15) compared with individuals who did not consume soft drinks after adjustment for potential confounders. There was no statistically significant association between juice consumption and risk of pancreatic cancer.

Conclusion: Regular consumption of soft drinks may play an independent role in the development of pancreatic cancer. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 19(2); 447–55

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.