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Drinking Two or More Cans of Soda Linked to Pancreatic Cancer

  • Susan
  • February 11, 2010
American soda
Can it give you pancreatic cancer?

How many soft drinks do you consume each day?  Two or three ..or more?  How many does that add up to each week?  Normally, this wouldn’t be a question of much concern, but in a puzzling new study coming out of the University of Minnesota, researchers found that those who consumed more than two sugary sodas a week had an 87 percent higher risk of developing pancreatic cancer than those who drank none.

This particular study caught my eye.  Some readers may know that my father died from pancreatic cancer in 1999, less than three months after diagnosis. He was not a soda drinker.

In cutting to the chase, Dr. Mark Pereira, the study’s lead researcher, suggests that soda drinkers may have other lifestyle habits that increase their chances of contracting the disease, including smoking, eating red meat and excessive alcohol consumption.  Again, my father didn’t smoke, rarely ate red meat and only had a drink on social occasions.  The study, however, connects soda consumption with the production of insulin in the pancreas.  Insulin helps the body metabolize sugar; drinking too much soda can interfere with the body’s insulin levels.  Consuming too many chocolate chip cookies or eating and drinking other sugar-laden foods and drinks can also cause this to happen.  So what’s the difference?

Other known risk factors for pancreatic cancer include genetics, ethnicity, old age, diabetes, environment and obesity.  The only risk factor my dad had was “old age”(he was 83 when diagnosed) and possibly environment (he worked in the petrochemical industry).

Of course, drinking too many regular soft drinks over the course of a week can easily increase the number of calories consumed, which leads to weight gain and obesity.  So is it really the soda that is the risk factor or is it the effect of drinking too much soda?

Eric Jacobs, strategic director of pharmacoepidemiology at the American Cancer Society had some advice.  “The bottom line is that limiting consumption of sugar-sweetened soft drinks can help in maintaining a healthy weight, which in turn will reduce risk of many types of cancer and other serious diseases,”he said.

Obviously, moderation is the key here. Overindulging in anything may cause adverse health effects.  Although the findings of this research are interesting (it was conducted in Singapore, but researchers say it is valid for Western nations because of the similarities in lifestyle), the response from medical professionals is mixed.  Many are skeptical and feel that additional research is warranted.  The consensus is that stopping smoking and losing weight are the best ways to avoid not just pancreatic cancer ” but most cancers and other serious illnesses. If losing weight entails cutting out sugary soft drinks, then so be it.

February is heart month and the American Heart Association suggests the following consumption guidelines concerning sugar:

  • Women should consume fewer than 6.5 teaspoons of added sugar a day.
  • Men should consume fewer than 9.5 teaspoons.

Given that a single can of soda contains 13 teaspoons, Americans would be wise to cut down,  Avoid using discounted coupons to get free soda and whether or not they’re motivated by a potential cancer risk.

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