Daily Times

LONDON: Drinking large amounts of fruit juice may raise your risk of cancer, according to a big study which has found a link between the regular consumption of all kinds of sugary drinks and the likelihood of developing the disease.

The study, carried out in France, is the first substantial piece of research to find a specific association between sugar and cancer. Sugary drinks such as colas, lemonade and energy drinks have been linked to obesity, which is a cause of cancer, but the French researchers suggest there could also be other reasons sugar could trigger it.

Daily consumption of sugary drinks (sugar-sweetened beverages and 100% fruit juices) and artificially sweetened (diet) beverages were calculated and first cases of cancer reported by participants were validated by medical records and linked with health insurance national databases.

Published in the BMJ British medical journal, this study analyzed data from 101,257 French adults – 21% of them men and 79% women – and assessed their intake or sugary drinks. It followed them for a maximum of 9 years, between 2009 and 2018, to assess their risk for all types of cancer, and for some specific types including breast, colon and prostate cancer.

Fruit juices showed the same association with cancer as colas. “The main driver of the association seems to be sugar, so when we just look at the sugar content per 100ml, regular Coke or 100% orange juice, for instance, are quite the same. So, it’s not so odd that we observe this association for fruit juices,” said Touvier.

But public health agencies say that fruit juices are a little bit better because they contain some vitamins and a little bit of fiber, she added.