Drinking One Sugary Beverage Every Day May Increase Stomach Cancer Risk, Study Shows

(Verywellhealth)
Key Takeaways

• Drinking at least one sugar-sweetened beverage daily was associated with 2.45 times the risk of stomach cancer.
• The study found no increased stomach cancer risk associated with artificially sweetened beverages.
• The findings don’t prove sugary drinks cause stomach cancer, but experts recommend limiting added sugar.

The risk of stomach cancer may be another reason to avoid sugar-sweetened sodas and energy drinks, according to a recent study published in Gastro Hep Advances.¹

Sugar-sweetened beverages have previously been linked to a higher risk of colorectal, breast, and liver cancers.²³ The new research suggests they may also increase the risk of gastric, or stomach, cancer.

“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,” Andrew T. Chan, MD, MPH, a Boston-based gastroenterologist and epidemiologist with the Mass General Brigham Cancer Institute and senior author of the study, said in a statement. “This is the first study to demonstrate an association between sugar-sweetened beverage intake and gastric cancer in a U.S. population.”

Daily Sugary Drinks Were Linked to Higher Stomach Cancer Risk

For the study, researchers defined sugar-sweetened beverages as carbonated drinks, punch, lemonade, and sports drinks. Artificially sweetened beverages included low-calorie sodas.

Researchers analyzed data from over 112,000 participants in the long-running Nurses’ Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-Up Study. Both studies collected information about participants’ diet, lifestyle, and health over decades. During follow-up, 278 participants developed gastric cancer.

After accounting for other potential risk factors, the researchers found that people who drank at least one sugar-sweetened beverage per day had 2.45 times the risk of gastric cancer compared with those who drank less than one per month.

Higher fructose intake—a type of sugar commonly found in sweetened beverages—was also associated with a higher risk of gastric cancer. The researchers also asked participants about artificially sweetened beverages but found no association with a higher risk of gastric cancer.

Why Might Sugary Drinks Increase Risk of Stomach Cancer?

Previous research has not consistently found the same association. A 2023 study of people in Japan found no association between sugar-sweetened beverages and gastric cancer.⁴

Mingyang Song, ScD, an author of the U.S. study and an associate professor of clinical epidemiology and nutrition at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, in Boston, said the difference may be related to the causes of gastric cancer in different populations.

Outside the U.S., gastric cancer is more common and is often linked to Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), a type of bacteria that can cause stomach ulcers.

Song noted that because the study was observational, it cannot prove that the drinks caused the increased risk. One possibility for association is that high sugar intake may contribute to insulin resistance, which causes glucose to build up in the bloodstream and has been linked to cancer development.⁶

“Emerging data has also found that sugar-sweetened beverages may disrupt the gut microbiome, which could increase cancer risk,” Song said. “I would suggest people try to minimize the consumption of sugars and sugar-sweetened beverages, not based on our study alone, but rather based on the totality of the literature that is already available.”

What You Can Do to Lower Your Risk

Routine screening for gastric cancer is not recommended in the U.S., though national programs for stomach cancer screenings have been implemented in Japan and Korea, where rates are much higher.

Gastric cancer was much more common in the U.S. decades ago, when refrigeration was less widely available and meats were often cured for preservation, said Jeremy Davis, MD, chief of the division of surgical oncology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, in Baltimore.

Although gastric cancer rates later declined, Davis noted that it is now becoming more common among younger people and women in the U.S., and researchers don’t know why.

Davis said those trends make research into potential risk factors particularly important. While the new study does not prove that sugar-sweetened beverages cause gastric cancer, “it does tell us that what goes into our bodies matters,” he said.

“We need to really be thoughtful about what we put into our bodies, whether it’s liquid or solid food,” Davis added. “It speaks to the importance of a balanced diet, not just in what we eat, but in what we drink as well.”

Davis also pointed to H. pylori, a known risk factor for gastric cancer. He suggests that people with persistent stomach pain talk with a healthcare provider about whether testing for H. pylori is appropriate. Testing can be done in several ways, including with a breath or stool test, and the infection can be treated with medications that include antibiotics.

Written by Fran Kritz . Fact checked by Elizabeth Gall