There is increasing scientific evidence that what we eat plays a determining role in cancer. Follow one healthy and balanced diet helps prevent it, while abusing certain foods or products favors the formation of tumors.
In this last block are the sugary drinks, including fruit juices and the drinks with sweeteners, the light.
A new meta-analysis confirms the association between a diet rich in sugary drinks and the risk of developing breast, prostate, colorectal and pancreatic cancer.
The study was led by researchers from the Nutrition and Cancer Unit of the Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO) and Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) and has been published in the scientific journal The Nutrients.
Sugar and cancer
Cancer claimed 9.6 million deaths in 2018 and the figure is expected to double in 2040. This disease is the second cause of death in the world.
To reverse this situation it is necessary to work on the early detection programs (the earlier the tumor is detected, the better the prognosis) and in new treatments but also in prevention.
Preventive strategies are a mainstay in the approach of any disease. If we avoid or control the risk factors that cause them, we will also reduce the cases.
Well, in the case of cancer we know that over weight and the diabetes they have been confirmed as important risk factors for many types of tumors.
And one of the causes of overweight and ones uncontrolled blood glucose levels are diets rich in drinks with a high sugar content, either added (sugary drinks) or natural such as fruit juices because they contribute to an excessive intake of calories and fructose, which triggers a cascada very dangerous:
- Increase the adiposity (fat cells).
- As a consequence, there is greater insulin resistance.
- The oxidative stress, which damages cells.
- High blood glucose levels also increase the circulation of inflammatory substances in the bloodstream.
- The inflammatory environments they favor the development and progression of cancer cells. And the sugar It’s one of the major inflammatory that exists.
Not only sugary drinks and fruit juices are in the spotlight, drinks that contain Artificial sweeteners like drinks light They have also been seen to increase the risk of obesity and diabetes.
Sugary drinks and risk by type of cancer
The meta-analysis carried out by ICO and IDIBELL researchers fully confirms the association between the consumption of sugary drinks and cancer.
And the meta-analyzes don’t leave much room for doubt because they are actually a review of all the studies that have been done on the subject. In this case, they have been analyzed 67 observational studies published until June 2020.
Raül Zamora-Ros, study coordinator and researcher at the ICO-IDIBELL Nutrition and Cancer Unit, explains that they have wanted to explore the role of sugary drinks in carcinogenesis separately (sugary soft drinks, fruit juices and drinks light) and by type of cancer. And the results leave no room for doubt:
- A direct association has been seen between high consumption of sugary drinks (refreshments) and the increased risk of suffering breast, prostate, colorectal and pancreatic cancer.
- When evaluating the fruit juices, an increased risk was also observed in same tumor locations than for sugary drinks.
- On the other hand, beverages light were only associated with an increased risk of pancreatic cancer.
To drink water
The moral that the researchers draw from this meta-analysis is as obvious as it is compelling:
“This study supports the most current dietary recommendations from the World Research Fund (WCRF) of limiting sugary drinks for cancer prevention and sensitize consumers about its low nutritional quality and high sugar content “, assures Zamora-Ros.
“So we recommend substituting sugary drinks for drinking, tap, or bottled water, and infusions without sugar as the main liquid source for body hydration “, concludes. Clearer, the water.
As for fruit juices, the advice is to always avoid processed and opt for whole fruit.
- The natural fruit juices they can be healthy but they should not be the first option when it comes to eating fruit. What it is about is Do not abuse of the fruit into juices.
And is that to prepare a juice you may need up to 4 or 5 pieces of fruit. Imagine if you had several glasses a day, your fructose intake would be very elevated.
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