Study: Soda Linked to Pancreatic Cancer

(CBS)  Mothers have warned for decades that drinking too much soda might cause cavities, but those sugar-laden beverages may expose people to a much greater risk - cancer.

A recently released study from the University of Minnesota finds that people who drink as few as two soft drinks a week face almost double the risk of pancreatic cancer, one of the deadliest forms of the disease, according to a report by CBS station WCCO-TV.

"Their risk of getting pancreatic cancer over the time period of the study was almost two times higher than their counterparts who were consuming little or no sugar-sweetened beverages in the study," said Dr. Mark Pereira.

The study, which examined data from 60,000 people in Singapore over 14 years, found that regular soft drink consumers were 87 percent more likely to develop pancreatic cancer, even after accounting for factors like age, obesity, diabetes and cigarette smoking. The study only applies to consumption of regular soda, not diet soft drinks or fruit juices.

The problem might be the quantity of sugar in the drinks. The pancreas produces insulin to balance the body's blood sugar levels. More sugar means more insulin.

"Insulin has been shown to promote the growth of most tissues including cancer cells, so that might be the mechanism if this is cause and effect," said Pereira.

While fruit juices are also often high in sugar, people often consumer smaller quantities - about 8 to 12 ounces - compared with 20 or 30 ounces of soda.

Local Video from WCCO in Minneapolis/St. Paul

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[junglystgyrl]

At the age of 54, my mom's life was cut short because of pancreatic cancer. Pancreatic cancer is now labelled as the deadliest form of cancer! Four months was all she got from the time she was diagnosed to the day she died.
I believe that there is something to be taken from this article. My mom drank two or more glasses of Pepsi a day from the time she was in her early twenties. There is no history of pancreatic cancer in our family, my mom was not even overweight; but she was a smoker. It is most likely that smoking led to her early demise; but what if there were other contributing factors like soda pop consumption? If she had not of consumed so much soda pop throughout her life-time would her risk of developing pancreatic cancer of been cut in half, would she of had ten more years with us? There is no way of ever knowing; but I do know that there just may be alot of truth to this article because I have seen it first hand. We all know that limiting the amount of refined sugars we comsume is good for our bodies so do yourself a favor a skip the soda pop aisle.

[spike946]

so i dont know if we were all reading the same article but basiclly at the end of the article it claims that anything with sugar when we consume it causes our bodies to produce more insuline which in turn causes tissue growth includeing cancer cells to grow faster so basiccly any foods with sugar cause pancriatic cauncer. its a good thing they spent 14 years to find out that we should stop eating sugar and foods with sugar from here on out i will never consume fruit again or anything else with sugar. o wait i think everything has sugar in it yup it does.

[julieveggie]

I thought I was being a good girl by only having 5 cans of pop a week. Wrong! I haven't had any pop since I read the article!

Though soda is easily looked at as "normal" in our culture, because of it's common use, it's anything but normal to the body which has to respond very quickly to all that sugar and acidity that is being released at faster rates than foods would release.

Cancer itself propagates more easily in an acidic environment, and the health and pH level of inner terrain we carry around inside our skin is something we have impact on.

I replaced my pop with Chia seeds(superfood) for my energy food, it really works! I mix them in with chocolate soy milk or grape juice to make a gelatin type substance. You can use any kind of liquid. 1/3 cup of seeds to 2 cups of water of liquid let stand for 15 minutes and then stir and you will have a gelatin base. Keeps in the fridge for 3 weeks. Take 3 tablespoons daily. Chia seeds may be consumed raw, sprouted, ground, cooked, or as a gel. Use creatively in smoothies, salads, soups, or when baking (e.g., in toppings, fillings, or crusts).

[SunDog8259]

I don't put much stock in epidemiological studies, they are too easily manipulated to fit our expectations -- that's largely what got us into today's low-fat and cholesterol diet mess. That being said, sugar is not good for us: it impacts the immune system; and cancer, unlike normal cells, needs sugar to reproduce since the cells often lack mitochondria and can't utilize ketones. I wonder how many of their pop drinkers smoked?

[Nate650]

Nice post, yea it's sad to find out decades later that the low-fat/cholesterol theory was much more than likely bogus.

[erb0087]

It's not just pancreatic cancer. It's the obesity associated with sugary sodas and other junk food.

As another poster commented, reducing obesity is the smartest health care reform the nation could make.

"Feb. 10, 2010 -- Childhood obesity more than doubles the risk of dying before age 55, according to a new long-term study that followed nearly 5,000 children.

''The bottom line is, obesity in kids is a serious problem that needs to be taken seriously," study co-author William C. Knowler, MD, DrPH, tells WebMD. Although experts have known that for years, he says, the new research is definite confirmation.

"What this particular study shows is, obesity is going to cause excess premature death," says Knowler, chief of the Diabetes Epidemiology and Clinical Research Section of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

Although recent data suggest a leveling off of obesity in the U.S., one in six teens is obese.

The study is in the New England Journal of Medicine."

http://www.webmd.com/parenting/news/20100210/obese-children-twice-as-likely-to-die-young

[erb0087]

Are we going to start seeing warning labels on Pepsi cans ?

[SugarAssociation]

While the Singapore report has made for flashy headlines, a closer examination of the published data reveals factors other than sugar are responsible for the mathematical relationship calculated for risk of pancreatic cancer. Only 18 cases of pancreatic cancer were reported for the 5,889 individuals who reported drinking an average of five 8-ounce servings per week over a period of 14 years. By comparison, 110 cases of pancreatic cancer were reported for those drinking no soft drinks. Susan Mayne of the Yale Cancer Center at Yale University recognized these facts when she told Food Navigator, ?Although this study found a risk, the finding was based on a relatively small number of cases and it remains unclear whether it is a causal association or not. Soft drink consumption in Singapore was associated with several other adverse health behaviors such as smoking and red meat intake, which we can't accurately control for.?

Dr. Nancy Snyderman, Medical Expert for NBC?s Today Show (2/9), said she expected this study to go ?down in flames overnight.? She echoed the concerns of many experts citing the small number of cases and urged viewers to remember other proven causes of pancreatic cancer: smoking, obesity and diabetes.

[slownewsday_____]

Surely someone with a screen name like "SugarAssociation" couldn't possibly be biased, right??

Sheesh!

[slownewsday_____]

Regardless, I still think this study is a bunch of hooey. Just funny to see someone with that screen name attempting to sound anything other than biased ;)

[fleabag75]

I seriously doubt this story. People were drinking soda for 50, 60 or 70 years and certainly in much greater amounts than today thanks to the diet drink availability. If it were true, pancreatic cancer would have been rampant 50 years ago and pretty much diminished today. Naw,,,,,, this is one story I ain't buying. We can just drop it now since they got their money for doing a study.

[Rohanite]

Seriously? Did they have "big gulps" and "super sizes" 70 years ago?

[aliwhalen]

Here's the deal. It's all about choices. If you are choosing to drink soda which has absolutely NO health benefits over a glass of water, you are probably also choosing french fries instead of salads and sugary cereals over lowfat yogurt and fruit.

In America, the majority of our calories consumed comes from sugary drinks like soda and fruit juice. I think that is staggering. Perhaps some of us make poor dietary choices because of ignorance of what's in our food and how it affects our body, but I think for the most part people are choosing what's cheap, and fast, and in the case of soda, tasty and a quick sugar rush. For myself, I've decided to stop paying Coca Cola hard-earned money for high fructose corn syrup and other chemicals that will ultimately contribute to a greater risk of diabetes that already runs in my family. Vote with your dollars, stop paying these companies for legalized drugs that cause cancer and disease. Soda addiction is on par with cigarettes, in my opinion.

[Nate650]

I agree, but to respond to your "lowfat yogurt" comment, you're better off eating full fat dairy products. The saturated fat/cholesterol theory was never convincing and has been debunked. It's not the fat, it's the artificial ingredients and refined products that are taking over the food supply (e.g., white bread laden with chemicals instead of natural whole grain bread). Food should be eaten in its natural state.

[aliwhalen]

Nate650 - low fat products tend to be a higher source of calcium.

[derekcranex]

It's not the sugar -- it's the CO2. Al Gore should get on his bandwagon to ban all CO2 and save us all. All praise to the holiest, Al Gore