People urged to avoid drinking 'liquid death' as experts link it to common cancer
A study has found an association between consuming sugary drinks and gastric cancer for the first time.
Published in the Gastro Help Advances journal, a study of 112,284 participants found that daily intake of sugar-sweetened drinks - defined as 'carbonated beverages, punch, lemonade and sports drinks' - could lead to an increased risk of cancer in the stomach compared to those who rarely drank them.
That's certainly worrying for the UK, given a 2024 study by the Oral Health Foundation found that 45 per cent of the country consume sugar from drinks.
“Gastric cancer is the fifth leading cause of cancer death worldwide, but we’ve known very little about how diet might contribute to this cancer,” one of the study's researchers, Andrew T. Chan, a gastroenterologist and epidemiologist with the Mass General Brigham Cancer Institute, said in a statement, via Fast Company.
Advert
“This is the first study to demonstrate an association between sugar-sweetened beverage intake and gastric cancer in a U.S. population."
Participants in the Nurses’ Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-Up Study were asked about their diet, lifestyle and health.
Of the participants, 278 developed gastric cancer, with researchers finding that men and women who drank at least one sugar-sweetened drink a day had a higher risk of developing it than those who had less than one a month.
“We were able to show that consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages was associated with a higher risk of developing gastric cancer,” Chan told HCP Live.
"Which speaks to the possibility of a relationship between metabolic dysfunction and risk of this cancer — something that hasn't been well characterised in the past.”
However, limitations to the study were stressed. As it was an observational study, the drinks can only be associated with stomach cancer, rather than being stated as an absolute fact that it can cause it.
Doctor slams fizzy drinks as 'liquid death'
Dr Jeremy London has criticised fizzy drinks in the past, listing them alongside cigarettes, breads, pastas and refined flours and alcohol as things he never puts in his body.
Dr London labelled fizzy drinks as 'liquid death', saying in an Instagram post: "Just don't drink them. Period. Done."
Dr William Li backed up Dr London's stance, telling the ZOE Science & Nutrition podcast: "Soda is everyone's favourite whipping boy. Rightfully so."
He said they contain: "all these additives, colours, flavourings, preservatives, stabilisers... that is accumulated exposure to toxins. It's not one exposure, it's the chronic exposure over time."
Studies have linked fizzy drinks to cancers in the past, alongside other health problems like heart disease, insulin resistance and weight gain.
What can you drink instead?
It's not all bad news, as the study that found an association between sugary drinks and gastric cancer found no such connection with artificially sweetened ones.
“That makes us think this potential link could be through metabolic dysfunction, through pathways we know sugar-sweetened beverages may operate through — like raising blood insulin and glucose levels,” Chan said.
“Some of these insulin pathways that link to risk of gastrointestinal cancer may be a particular reason for why we saw this association.”
The Heart Foundation urges people to simply drink good old H20 instead of sugary drinks, but other healthy alternatives include:
- Sparkling water (try adding chopped fruit or herbs, for example, fresh mint)
- Unflavoured milk
- Plant-based milks with added calcium, like soy, almond, oat, rice milk
- Tea
- Coffee
- Small glass (125ml) of 100% fruit or vegetable juice
Daniel Murphy