To Your Health
May, 2021 (Vol. 15, Issue 05)
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Lower Sugar, Lower Risk

By Editorial Staff

Sugar-sweetened beverages may taste good, but increasing research suggests they're decidedly bad when it comes to our health – and the danger may begin at a young age. In fact, the sugar-sweetened beverages our children are drinking may be elevating their risk of developing cancer when they're adults.

Colorectal cancer, or cancer that begins in the colon or rectum, is the third most common cancer in men and women (not including some types of skin cancer). That makes preventing it an important public-health priority. Could it be as simple as reducing our intake of sugary drinks when we're adolescents?

sugar - Copyright – Stock Photo / Register Mark According to research findings published in the journal Gut, women who drank sugar-sweetened beverages rarely (less than one 8-ounce serving per week) had only half the risk of developing early-onset (before age 50) colorectal cancer. But here's the kicker: from ages 13-18, avoiding sugar-sweetened beverages had a profound impact on reducing cancer risk: each daily serving consumed during that age range was linked to a 32 percent increased risk of developing early-onset GI cancer in adulthood.

Keep in mind that what you drink isn't the only variable impacting colorectal cancer risk; what you eat can make a big difference, too. Eating foods high in fiber may play an important preventative role, as could limiting consumption of foods such as red / processed meats. Talk to your doctor for more information.