HealthDay reported on a news release from the American Cancer Society on September 15, 2022 about a relationship between drinking sugary drinks and cancer.
In the report, Cancer, Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention the ACS wrote “drinking too many sugary beverages may increase the risk of death from cancer.” They went on to say, “These sugar-sweetened beverages were associated with increased death rates from colon and kidney cancer.” That was true regardless of a person’s BMI.
The report noted that “study participants who consumed artificially sweetened beverages also had an increased risk of pancreatic cancer.” So, drinking too many sweetened drinks may increase your risk of colon and kidney cancer, and using artificial sweeteners increases your risk of cancer of the pancreas.
We already know that excess body fat increases the risk for certain cancers. Trying to lose weight by drinking only artificially sweetend drinks may increase the risk of cancer of the pancreas. Other approaches to weight loss may be safer.
Peter M. Hartmann, MD
Family Medicine & Psychiatry
