Does drinking hand-shaken drinks cause cancer? A cup of sugary drink a day increases the risk of developing "dangerous polyps" in the colon by 30%
Fructose is metabolized only by the liver, high fructose syrup is more harmful
With the rise of health awareness, more and more people understand that sugar is not necessary for body metabolism, and may add too many calories and lead to obesity. However, sugar naturally exists in fruits and vegetables in the form of “sucrose”, which can be converted by the body into glucose as an energy source. In contrast, “fructose” is only metabolized by the liver and is more easily converted into fat and stored in the body.
Most of the food people consume today, including hand-shaken drinks, contains “high fructose corn sugar syrup”, which is a form of sugar that is sweeter and less expensive. Excessive intake of high-fructose syrup has been considered to be one of the risk factors for obesity, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome. However, will consuming more fructose every day also increase the risk of colorectal cancer?
Drinking sugary drinks as a young person increases the risk of colorectal adenomas by 30%
Since the 1990s, the incidence of colorectal cancer among young people in the United States has nearly doubled. About 1/10 of the newly diagnosed colorectal cancer cases are in people under the age of 50. Scientists believe that “early-onset” colorectal cancer may be related to life in adolescence. related to risk factors.
The research team collected data from 33,106 subjects in the “Nursing Health Research Project” and found that people who consume a large amount of “simple sugars” (fructose, added sugar) during adolescence are more likely to be diagnosed with colorectal adenomas. Adenomas are among the types of colorectal polyps with the highest risk of developing into colorectal cancer.
During the random interview period (1995 to 2015), a total of 2,909 people were diagnosed with colorectal adenomas, of which 758 adenomas were considered high risk. Based on the location of the adenomas and the dietary questionnaires reported regularly by the subjects, it was found that if adolescents consume 5% more fructose calorie sources (one drink) per day, the risk of total adenomas increases by 17%, and high-risk adenomas (volume greater than 1 cm, villous adenoma) risk increased by 30%. The research was published in the journal Gastroenterology.
High cell proliferation during adolescence and excessive sugar increase the risk of future cancer?
Hee-Kyung Joh, a professor of pharmacy at Seoul International University and one of the study authors, believes that fructose intake in adulthood is not related to later adenoma risk, indicating that adolescents seem to be more susceptible to increased cancer risk due to excessive sugar intake during adolescence.
Since adolescence is a time of high cell proliferation, drastic changes in hormones and metabolism, decreased insulin sensitivity, and increased IGF1 concentration, it is more likely that excessive sugar intake may lead to carcinogenic factors. The same study also claimed that those who consumed two servings of dairy products per day instead of two servings of sugary drinks were associated with fewer rectal adenomas.
Coincidentally, another study led by a team from the Harvard School of Public Health also pointed out that a survey of 95,464 subjects showed that every increase in high-fructose intake during adolescence (13-18 years old) will increase the risk of early-morbidity in the future. The risk of colorectal cancer is 32%. The risk for those with the highest fructose intake increased by up to 2.2 times. On the contrary, replacing high-fructose drinks with coffee and milk in adulthood can reduce the risk of early-onset colorectal cancer by 17%-36%.
Why drinking sugary drinks promotes the occurrence of colorectal cancer? Scientists believe that it is related to several mechanisms, including the impact of sugar on intestinal flora, the immune system, metabolic syndrome, and even gene expression. In general, although a causal relationship between high intake of fructose (sugar-sweetened beverages) and colorectal cancer cannot be confirmed, there is a positive correlation between the large consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages in the past 20 years and the risk of colorectal cancer among young people. Still cannot be ignored.
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