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Getting the latest healthcare news for you
Getting the latest healthcare news for you
That daily soda habit could be doing more harm than you think. A large, decades-long study of over 112,000 U.S. adults found that drinking at least one sugar-sweetened beverage per day was linked to a 2.45 times higher risk of gastric cancer compared to those who rarely consumed them. Diet drinks, however, showed no similar association.
A new study from the Mass General Brigham Cancer Institute — the first of its kind in a U.S. population — found that people who drank at least one sugar-sweetened beverage per day were 2.45 times more likely to develop gastric cancer than those who consumed less than one serving per month. The findings, published in Gastro Hep Advances, drew on data from over 112,000 participants tracked across several decades in the Nurses' Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-Up Study.
Artificially sweetened beverages, on the other hand, showed no link to increased gastric cancer risk. Researchers also found no connection between sugary drink consumption and H. pylori infection — a known gastric cancer risk factor — suggesting the association may operate through separate biological pathways, such as weight gain, insulin resistance, or changes to the gut microbiome.
By the Numbers:
Why it matters: Gastric cancer is the fifth leading cause of cancer death worldwide and is often caught late. This study suggests that a very common dietary habit — one practiced by nearly two-thirds of American adults — may be a meaningful, modifiable risk factor, giving both patients and clinicians a new conversation to have about prevention.
