This common beverage doubles colorectal cancer risk

I will never understand why people continue consuming sugary drinks. 

Especially when you consider they’ve been linked to premature deaths, heart disease, obesity, and more. 

Plus, there are just so many other drink options available to you. (And no, I’m not talking about “diet”, chemically-sweetened options, either. Those are just as bad—if not worse—than regular, sugar-sweetened drinks.)  

Simply put, the sooner you kick this nasty habit to the curb, the better.  

But if you’re looking for yet another good reason, get this…  

Sugary drinks can increase your risk of colorectal cancer 

A new analysis shows that a high intake of sugary drinks in teens and young adults helps explain the recent spike in early-onset colorectal cancer cases. 

More specifically, this study showed that drinking two or more sugary drinks per day at an early age more than doubled this risk of colorectal cancer in women under 50. (That’s compared to women who only had one or fewer sugary drinks per week—still one too many, if you ask me.)  

The researchers pulled their data from the Nurses’ Health Study II (NHSII). Sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) included soft drinks, fruit drinks, sports drinks, and sweetened tea drinks. Follow-up spanned across two decades.  

And yes, results suggested that cancer risk more than doubled (by 2.2-fold)—“just” from drinking sugary drinks. 

But wait, that’s not all: Every additional sugary drink ratcheted up the risk even further—by 16 percent in young adults and 32 percent in adolescents.  

This research also looked at the benefits of subbing out sugary drinks for artificially sweetened drinks—as well as for coffee, milk, or low-fat milk. And they found that these options lowered risk of early-onset colorectal cancer by as much as 36 percent.  

Of course, I’m not a big fan of those beverages, either. (Coffee being the occasional exception.) Because while they may not be linked to this type of cancer specifically, plenty of other research has linked them to other types of cancer, as well as heart disease, diabetes, and more. 

The ugly truth behind sugar 

This isn’t the first we’ve heard of the dangers of SSBs. And it’s certainly not the first time I’ve written about them here.   

Sugar—in ALL of its forms—leads directly to obesity, diabetes, heart disease… and more than a dozen (and counting) different cancers. Early-onset colorectal cancer is just one of them.  

Still, this study is worth paying attention to, because colorectal cancer used to be a disease that affected primarily older people. (Hence why the colonoscopy push doesn’t begin until age 50.) 

Of course, you may recall that recent years have seen a dramatic increase in colorectal cancer among younger adults in particular. And you better believe that higher rates of obesity—largely fueled by sugar—are to blame.  

That’s scary enough by itself. But it’s even more frightening when you consider the fact that 30 percent of American kids and teens drink more than 1.5 sugary drinks every single day.  

And as this study shows, yet again, the consequences of our country’s little “drinking problem” are deadly. So please, whatever your age, ditch the sugary beverages… and never look back.  

Especially in the middle of summer, your best bet is to replace those sugar-packed options with fresh, filtered water. And if you’re looking for a little extra zing, go ahead and throw in some lemons, mint, berries, or cucumbers. 

Your taste buds won’t miss a thing. But your body will feel the difference… for years to come. 

P.S. For additional simple, science-backed strategies to help protect yourself against cancer, check out my Essential Cancer Protocol. To learn more about this innovative, online learning tool, or to enroll today, click here now! 

Source: 

“Early-Onset Colorectal Cancer — Are Sugary Drinks to Blame?” Medscape Medical News, 05/07/2021. (medscape.com/viewarticle/950731)