Mass General Brigham study links sugary drinks to stomach cancer
Drinking sugary drinks every day could seriously raise your risk of stomach cancer, according to a new study from Mass General Brigham Cancer Institute.
Researchers found that people who have sugar-sweetened beverages daily are more than twice as likely to get gastric cancer than those who only have them occasionally.
The risk was even higher for women drinking more than one sugary drink a day.
Fructose linked to gastric cancer
The research looked at 112,284 participants and found fructose (the sugar in soft drinks and sports drinks) was especially linked to increased cancer rates.
On the other hand, artificially sweetened drinks did not show the same risk.
The team did not find any connection between sugary drink intake and H. pylori infection either, a common cause of stomach cancer.
The authors say their findings highlight an important public health concern and call for more research across different groups.