Sugary drinks linked to more than double stomach cancer risk

2222 points by Ronaldo8 20 hours ago on reddit | 127 comments

love_is_an_action | 19 hours ago

I’ve been a soda addict since the 1980s, when Ma would have my sister and me “split a coke” in sippy cups.

I assume I’m doomed. My only vice, too.

Remote-Bus-5567 | 17 hours ago

Double the chance of a very low chance is still a low chance.

Rupperrt | 10 hours ago

Too many people don’t understand that equation when it comes to health risks

grunkage | 9 hours ago

I understand it very well when it comes to processed meat, which is why I still eat bacon and sausage

Diels_Alder | 9 hours ago

278 people getting stomach cancer out of 112,000 doesn't seem that low.

Remote-Bus-5567 | 8 hours ago

So about 2 additional cases per 1000 people over several decades. That's the difference if you add soda, assuming the soda actually was the culprit.

TeamVanHelsing | 18 hours ago

same

love_is_an_action | 18 hours ago

Denise?!

Ariandrin | 18 hours ago

Me too. I’ve given up honestly, everything that brings me the little joys in life that keep me going are going to kill me someday. I’m starting to feel like my existence is incompatible with life.

HumanWithComputer | 17 hours ago

It is incompatible. All that living will be the death of you someday.

Ariandrin | 17 hours ago

I don’t even drink or smoke or use drugs, I just like tasty food and Pepsi.

blaminyou | 7 hours ago

How do u resist the urge to drink that’s my vice. I still think alcohol is worse than Pepsi

Ariandrin | 6 hours ago

Alcohol is worse than Pepsi for sure.

I have an addictive personality and a lot of addiction in my family, so I never started drinking in the first place. I also hate the taste and it gives me a headache.

I also hate not feeling in control of my actions, so I avoid vices that would do that to me.

errie_tholluxe | 17 hours ago

Truth! Life has killed 100% of all participants

Denbt_Nationale | 9 hours ago

Just drink diet soda?

Ariandrin | 8 hours ago

I have tried, I can't tolerate the taste of the diet or zero sugar ones.

Which sucks, because they are better for you and that's what my partner drinks

puterTDI | 13 hours ago

Something to consider: there are things that can bring you joy and be healthy at the same time.

Ariandrin | 12 hours ago

Sure, I just haven’t found any yet.

Except a salmon with calamansi and soy sauce. That’s healthy right?

puterTDI | 11 hours ago

That is an example. There’s also Tomas of non-food activities that bring joy and are healthy.

I also struggle with the argument that the only pleasant foods are unhealthy ones. It sounds more to me like you’re addicted to certain foods and convincing yourself they’re the only ones that see enjoyable.

At the end of the day it’s your life, so you do get to do as you want. That also means you’re the only one who can alter your habits.

Ariandrin | 11 hours ago

Well, there are several factors that go into why changes are hard for me, but I don't like getting into them too much online because people take it as me making excuses, and it's hard for me to explain all the ways that I am trying to work around them and make better choices.

I will admit that I am probably addicted to my Pepsi. But I also don't get caffeine anywhere else, as I don't drink coffee or tea, and I've made several attempts to cut it out and end up with debilitating caffeine withdrawal headaches. All the zero sugar ones are so gross that I can't tolerate them either. But I am trying.

puterTDI | 8 hours ago

Coffee and tea are both quite a bit healthier than Pepsi.

You can also slowly cut back rather than stopping outright

kdogman639 | 16 hours ago

You'll live twice as longer because you were splitting them with sis, smart move by your mom

Banjoschmanjo | 17 hours ago

Thought that said "spit a coke" and gagged.. though the reality isn't much better

r0sewaterST | 14 hours ago

You made it 40 + years with the addiction, I doubt soda will be the thing ending up killing you.

mr_herz | 6 hours ago

Find another vice to replace it with

Windblowsthroughme | 6 hours ago

Are you obese due to soda or no?

Necessary-Camp149 | 8 hours ago

hey... just stop. just, dont buy them.

drink water with lemon juice. its easy.

elddirriddle | 19 hours ago

We just can’t have anything nice or anything fun.

Ceasar456 | 17 hours ago

We
Here
For
A
Long
Time…..
Not a good time

yungrii | 14 hours ago

Whfaltn

SubtleTell | 19 hours ago

You can, you just need to be responsible and think about what you're drinking. Think about the fact that a can of soda has an insane amount of sugar and then consider how often you should have one. You shouldn't have one every day, and definitely not multiple.

ComfortableSalt3570 | 18 hours ago

So start chain drinking soft drinks every day got it 👍

zackks | 17 hours ago

Keep a 24/7 flow of Mountain Dew drinking it like an IV drip. What could go wrong

ComfortableSalt3570 | 17 hours ago

Just one IV drip? Amateur

Relevant_Chef | 13 hours ago

Look again, that’s a Roman numeral.

StuChenko | 16 hours ago

One per limb

Pip-Pipes | 16 hours ago

Since the IV sugar is skipping the stomach does this also mean it skips the stomach cancer?!

We solved it!

zackks | 13 hours ago

It dissolves the stomach. No stomach no cancer?

StuChenko | 16 hours ago

That would effectively bypass the stomach right?

victhrowaway12345678 | 16 hours ago

When I was in my teens I would have like 2 double big gulps per day and genuinely thought it was a step in the right direction swapping to beer. Like in the evenings I'll have a beer instead because it's less sugar. My pancreas is probably done by the time I'm 30.

Wowohboy666 | 13 hours ago

I'll never have just one.

Nikiaf | 18 hours ago

You shouldn't replace them with the diet/zero versions either. Artificial sweeteners open up a whole other can of worms.

SubtleTell | 18 hours ago

That's definitely not true. Obviously they still aren't good for you, but it's far better than drinking all that sugar. Plus the zero sugar versions have no calories. It's also not going to spike your blood sugar like regular soda. If you're drinking too much soda, you absolutely should replace it with zero sugar.

I've been only drinking zero sugar versions for a couple years now, and the fact that any time I try a sugar version I'm almost repulsed by it tells me everything I need to know.

errie_tholluxe | 17 hours ago

Research showed artificial sweeteners can cause early onset dementia amongst others.

Less sugar mind you!

No-Cherry-3959 | 12 hours ago

Correlation or causation? People who drink diet sodas are more likely to be diabetic and/or obese, both of which are also known to contribute to dementia, amongst numerous other health conditions. Not saying that it can’t be a causal link, but I am skeptical.

jacksontwos | 18 hours ago

Two years of Newtrition investment and research had produced CHOW™. CHOW™ contained spun, plaited, and woven protein molecules, capped and coded, carefully designed to be ignored by even the most ravenous digestive tract enzymes; no-cal sweeteners; mineral oils replacing vegetable oils; fibrous materials, colorings, and flavorings. The end result was a foodstuff almost indistinguishable from any other except for two things. Firstly, the price, which was slightly higher, and secondly the nutritional content, which was roughly equivalent to that of a Sony Walkman. It didn’t matter how much you ate, you lost weight.* Fat people had bought it. Thin people who didn’t want to get fat had bought it. CHOW™ was the ultimate diet food—carefully spun, woven, textured, and pounded to imitate anything, from potatoes to venison, although the chicken sold best. Sable sat back and watched the money roll in. He watched CHOW™ gradually fill the ecological niche that used to be filled by the old, untrademarked food. He followed CHOW™ with SNACKS™—junk food made from real junk. MEALS™ was Sable’s latest brainwave. MEALS™ was CHOW™ with added sugar and fat. The theory was that if you ate enough MEALS™ you would a) get very fat, and b) die of malnutrition. Terry Pratchett, Good Omens

DasDuckHead | 15 hours ago

You gotta stay alive as long as possible so the average age goes up and the retirement age can be raised to the benefit of mega corpos.

Now drink your kale and piss smoothie

Dispensarystoner | 14 hours ago

Last famous words

Nocturnal-Philosophy | 12 hours ago

Because life is naturally inclined toward pain and suffering.

ChanceConfection3 | an hour ago

Look, but don’t touch.

Touch, but don’t taste.

Taste, but don’t swallow.

ViciousNakedMoleRat | 17 hours ago

Let's look at the absolute risk instead of the relative risk.

Within the cohort that never drank sugary drinks, the likelihood of developing stomach cancer was approximately 0.0077% per year during the 40 years of observation.

Within the cohort that had more than 1 sugary drink per day, the likelihood was approximately 0.0163% per year.

Over a span of 60 years, this adds up to a likelihood of 0.98% for those who drank more than 1 sugary drink per day and 0.46% for those who didn't drink any sugary drinks.

Interestingly, the cohort that drank 4-7 sugary drinks per week had virtually the same likelihood to develop stomach cancer as the one who didn't drink any: 0.0079% per year / 0.48% over 60 years.

That suggests that having 1 sugary drink per day isn't really an issue but having several can be. Unfortunately, this study only collected semiquantitative data, so there is no possibility to further break down the "more than 1 sugary drink" group.

Link to the study

QueenMackeral | 10 hours ago

Did they define sugary drink? Like is it the sugar content that defines it? If I have a tsp of sugar in my coffee every day is that considered a sugary drink and the same risk as someone who drinks a coke every day?

ViciousNakedMoleRat | 10 hours ago

>In our study, we categorized SSB as carbonated beverages, punch, lemonade, and sports drinks

Serris9K | 2 hours ago

A lot of those have additives beyond sugar if not homemade. Did the study control for that?

OutsideImpressive115 | 5 hours ago

I would imagine it's not so much the sugary drink but rather the lack of plain water

Unless it specifically says both people drank the same amount of water

SpaceghostLos | 17 hours ago

Ive been doing more water and diet cokes in the last three years. But my farts and poops smell weird.

TactitcalPterodactyl | 18 hours ago

"Diet sodas showed no link" is a good takeaway here too. Some people are still convinced that diet soda is more dangerous than regular sugar-filled soda and that's clearly not the case.

Some-Pride-3477 | 15 hours ago

Aspartame, used in diet sodas has been one of the most studied substances in the field. It does have some negatives, but it's nowhere near the demonized substance some people claim it to be, at least not when consumed in normal amounts.

HumanWithComputer | 17 hours ago

Artificial sweeteners have been thoroughly tested before being allowed. I once read someone doubting sugar would be allowed if it was tested for being allowed for human consumption in the present. Caries is a disease which it is proven to cause. I have switched to sugarfree drinks to a large extent for that reason. Always surprised me the marketing never pushed that advantage of sugarfree drinks.

AshundertheOlivetree | 16 hours ago

Sugar free and sugar replacements have been Linked to colon and stomach cancers.

TactitcalPterodactyl | 16 hours ago

I hate to be this guy, but do you have a source? Everywhere I've checked says no consistent, direct link has ever been shown.

curious_but_dumb | 14 hours ago

Source for the colon cancer data: Their ass.

Karma_1969 | 9 hours ago

Citation needed please.

ShapeShiftingCats | 17 hours ago

I gave you an upvote because I agree, but I think it's important to study the effects of diet soda as well as artificial sweeteners aren't without risks.

If people learn that diet soda is in some respect also bad for them and then make the wrong conclusion that "it's all bad anyway" or "it's even worse", that's on them.

littlebighuman | 12 hours ago

The problem is, artificial sweeteners are absolutely disgusting to me for some reason. The taste lingers as well.

Then_Finding_797 | 17 hours ago

Sadly the sweeteners used in diet coke variations lead to other cancers. You can’t really say one is healthier than the other but it might be less evil?

Chankodi | 17 hours ago

Do you have references for this claim? From what I've read, there are no studies that show a link between artificial sugars (in normal amounts) and cancer.

TactitcalPterodactyl | 16 hours ago

There isn't any direct evidence as far as I'm aware. There was a fairly recent meta analysis of over 90 studies and they couldn't find any link to artificial sweeteners causing cancer. They didn't even find any link when people took massive doses equivalent to 100+ cans of pop per day.

I mean it could still be possible, maybe there's a risk but it's so insignificant that it never turns up in studies. But not enough that people should worry about drinking diet pop.

RockHardSalami | 14 hours ago

There arent any, thats why these trolls just comment this shit and bounce.

Chankodi | 13 hours ago

It's concerning how many up votes the message got. It really shows how ignorant the average redditor can be.

Geruvah | 8 hours ago

It's got 6 upvotes and the one calling him out has 21.

Plants-Matter | 15 hours ago

They never do. Anecdotally, everyone I've seen pushing the "diet Coke is worse than real Coke" narrative has a gut exploding out and spilling over their pants. I think they just really like sugar.

Shootemout | 16 hours ago

aspertame has shown a correlation with cancer but it's heavily dependent on your body weight and how much you drink. someone who's anorexic and drinks a lot of diet coke would be a lot more at risk than a really overweight person ironically enough https://www.iarc.who.int/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Aspartame_PR.pdf is an academic article discussing the results of a study where they found a correlation between aspertame and cancer but not enough during normal dietary trials that would pose a concern.

i think it's just one of those things that if you are drinking aspertame you should be aware that it puts you at higher risk of liver and breast cancer but no worse than drinking an energy drink puts you at risk of accute kidney failure slash heart attack

Chankodi | 16 hours ago

To get to the dangerous amount mentioned in your linked article a 150 pound person would have to drink 15-17 diet cokes a day. That, as I said, is not a reasonable amount for a person to drink. My point remains unrefuted. There is little to no evidence that consuming a normal amount of artificial sugars poses any threat.

TopSloth | 15 hours ago

What would the statistics be for the chemical reaction between aspertame and caffeine?

Chankodi | 15 hours ago

From what I can find, there isn't much evidence showing any "chemical reaction" between the two in regular amounts poses any measurable threat to human health.

krell_154 | 15 hours ago

15 cans a day is at the very limit of possibility

SolarFazes | 17 hours ago

The sun gives you cancer, have some perspective

Then_Finding_797 | 17 hours ago

Yeah basically you can’t from cancer

__JDQ__ | 16 hours ago

Also, the cancer is coming from inside the house.

Some-Pride-3477 | 15 hours ago

"The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified aspartame as “possibly carcinogenic to humans” (Group 2B) in 2023, based on limited evidence, particularly concerning hepatocellular carcinoma. Importantly, the WHO/JECFA assessment concluded that the evidence did not justify changing the acceptable daily intake (ADI) of 40 mg/kg body weight/day"

https://www.who.int/news/item/14-07-2023-aspartame-hazard-and-risk-assessment-results-released

Ombortron | 17 hours ago

I mean you can definitely talk about which is healthier if you’ve got concrete robust data on the actual rates of incidence regarding cancers and other negative effects relating to various sweeteners.

Nuraya | 15 hours ago

Source please

Fun_Background_8113 | 18 hours ago

You can get away with a lot of unhealthy habits if you cut out sugary drinks (half kidding)

Ganda1fderBlaue | 16 hours ago

Breaking news: fun thing gives you cancer

AdorableExchange9746 | 17 hours ago

Everything gives you cancer. The end. It’s not gonna stop me from enjoying what i can of life

Ragebaiterlmao | 17 hours ago

Water for life.

dinosaurscantyoyo | 12 hours ago

r/hydrohomies

biofrost | 17 hours ago

Eh, here for a good time, not a long time.cracks second monster open

Derpykins666 | 15 hours ago

I'm assuming in order to double your risk for stomach cancer you would have to be ingesting an ungodly amount, or already have the predisposition to get that type of cancer. Like how do you even 'double' the risk, what are we measuring that got doubled?

Upon further reading of the article it seems like I was correct to assume, out of the 100k or so people they were tracking over the years, the only ones that stood out were extremely heavy drinkers. If you had like even a few to up to 7 sodas a week it didn't even seem to factor much into the study. Only daily drinkers were flagged specifically, and those drinkers probably had more than one on average based on what I'm seeing.

Also this research is just observational and not completely conclusive. It just seems to be a pattern among heavy soda drinkers, which yeah I would assume drinking lots of sugary drinks daily without any breaks could lead to a lot of issues.

Derrickmb | 14 hours ago

Does this include beer?

Initial_Row_6400 | 16 hours ago

What isn’t going to give us cancer at this point. I’m so over life

XavierTheMemeDragon | 14 hours ago

You know what at this rate my whole body will be cancer, literally everything causes cancer

LionBig1760 | 5 hours ago

I'm not going to live forever, and I sure as fuck dont want to live in a world where I dont get to wash down my cancer-causing hot dog with a cancer-causing Dr. Pepper a few times every summer.

travelingWords | 16 hours ago

I watched something that linked to research showing that drinking fruit drinks was as bad for you as smoking. Something about losing the balance of eating whole fruit to deal with the sugar.

And soda isn’t even the good sugar…

DarthHubcap | 10 hours ago

I would think that’s because the fruit juice lacks the fiber that the actual fruit provides.

travelingWords | 10 hours ago

As explained, yeah fibre and friends were missing blah blah blah sugar goes right to the liver and does more bad blah blah blah.

DarthHubcap | 10 hours ago

Do you know I’ve never been constipated?

Today you learn.

HatZinn | 16 hours ago

They controlled for H. Pylori too. It's over for soda enjoyers.

x__Applesauce__ | 14 hours ago

Good thing it’s onl alcohol and water

RidethatSeahorse | 14 hours ago

I remember a family friend from childhood drank 5 litres of coke a day. Died from stomach cancer in her 50’s.

The_Weekend_Baker | 13 hours ago

Most have ignored the warnings about the role sugary drinks have played in exploding obesity and type 2 diabetes rates, so after careful and thoughtful deliberation, I'm sure everyone will ignore this as well.

Alstruction | 12 hours ago

Thank god I switched to Barley tea.

granoladeer | 12 hours ago

There's probably hundreds of confounders there. People who drink sugar drinks are more likely to drink or eat other things that are bad for your health.

Smear_Leader | 12 hours ago

“Altogether 112,284 people were tracked. Across 3.2 million person-years of follow-up, 278 of them developed stomach cancer.
Only the heaviest drinkers of sugar-sweetened beverages stood out. People having one to three servings a month, one to three a week, even four to seven a week all looked much like the people who almost never drank them.
Daily drinkers were the exception, however,, at 2.45 times the risk. This is the habit that is already tied to type 2 diabetes and heart disease.”

TristanTheRobloxian3 | 11 hours ago

correlation not causation?

TsukasaElkKite | 9 hours ago

Good thing i don’t drink pop

StaticCloud | 8 hours ago

Whatever gets me out of this hell faster

Standard-Contest-949 | 7 hours ago

Can’t drink alcohol , can’t drink a pop now either. So what? Just water?! Fuck that shit I’m not going out of this life tasteless.

ramenoodz | 7 hours ago

thanking god every day for strict parents who didn’t let me drink soda as a kid because now i don’t crave it in any way as an adult

Mookeebrain | 6 hours ago

Wow, that's surprising. I thought it was spread by a germ- pylori??? Anyway, the only person I know who had stomach cancer was my alcoholic uncle. Pretty sure he never drank sodas, but lots and lots of beer and hard liquor-RIP.

soberthrowawayfairy | 4 hours ago

Real sugar or fake sugar?

Hot_Physics_8124 | 3 hours ago

Immediately thought about having a pop.

Makapakamoo | 3 hours ago

Everyone explaining equations and probability saying its still not a huge risk; let me have it.

I need this. I need the fear struck into me. I'll make this my reason to stop. If its not the cancer its gonna be kidney damage or some shit so lemme be scared of cancer

Winter_Apartment_376 | 3 hours ago

Question to Americans - are there really people out there who drink coke every day??

Always thought it was a massive exaggeration.

VarietyMage | 2 hours ago

Link doesn't mean causation.

Pirate_Candy17 | 14 hours ago

Yet sugar free alternatives are proven to disrupt gut biome and increase the risk of cancer too.

Barely anything doesn’t include either of these in some form 😭

TwoFlower68 | 13 hours ago

Water, coffee & tea?

shpongleyes | 12 hours ago

Some people drink coffee with more sugar than a typical soda. Some restaurants you have to go out of your way to get coffee without sugar (like at McDonalds, you have to dive into a customization menu and specify a quantity of 0 sugar, which is not the default)

LionBig1760 | 5 hours ago

Zero people showing up to McDonald's are worried about the cancer risk of coffee.

Arsenal8944 | 9 hours ago

99% of my fluid intake is water, black coffee, and…beer. I try to be conscious about the beer. But my trade off is that I drink virtually no soda.

oh_the_anguish | 14 hours ago

I don't even think they use real sugar in anything anymore. It's all corn syrup or similar

AlwaysUpvotesScience | 16 hours ago

For all we know, this has more to do with microplastics than sugar. They drew NO conclusions based on the article.

If i drink homemade tea with sugar in it am I at risk? probably not

Exotic_Ad_4806 | 15 hours ago

what about poppi, bloom and those low sugar alternative prebiotic sodas?

Arsenal8944 | 9 hours ago

Idk but my assumption is that they won’t be nearly as bad considering they only have like 3-5g of sugar. If ppl are drinking poppi thinking they are healthy, I think that’s silly. If they are drinking them because they are substantially less unhealthy than regular soda, then that’s reasonable I feel.