The scary secrets in soft drinks

Guzzle Not!

The next time you see a friend enjoying a carbonated soft drink, walk right up and slap that drink out of his hand.

When he (or the police) asks why you did that, you can answer with this: Soft drink consumption increases pancreatic cancer risk.

At this point, your friend, whose life you may have saved, will thank you or have you arrested. If the latter, here’s what you can offer in your defense as you’re being handcuffed …

Researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center examined evidence gathered from the Singapore Chinese Health Study. More than 60,000 subjects were followed for as much as 14 years.

Results showed that those who consumed just two or more soft drinks each week increased their risk of pancreatic cancer by nearly 90 percent. And the link was that strong even after researchers allowed for factors such as smoking, type 2 diabetes, and excess body weight. (Diet soft drinks weren’t included in the study.)

The study also found that the same level of fruit juice consumption was not linked to the disease. This was unexpected because many fruit juices contain as much or nearly as much sugar as soft drinks. But the Georgetown lead researcher pointed out to Medscape that there are several differences between soft drinks and fruit juices, such as nutrient content and typically smaller juice portion sizes.

And then there’s the huge, glaring difference, which he didn’t mention: Unlike a genuine fruit juice, soft drinks are sweetened with high fructose corn syrup.

I’m not saying HFCS causes pancreatic cancer. I’m just saying…it’s there.

An interesting side note

Can the results of a study conducted in Singapore apply to a U.S. population? The Georgetown team, cautiously, believes they can. They point out that other studies with Caucasian subjects have also found a link between soft drink consumption and pancreatic cancer.

Good to know!

And that reminded me that this is not the first health problem we’ve seen linked to soft drink consumption.

In 2007 I told you about a study in which Framingham Heart researchers found that subjects who drank one or more soft drinks each day were nearly 45 percent more likely to develop symptoms of metabolic syndrome, including obesity, increased waist circumference, impaired fasting glucose, higher blood pressure, high triglycerides, and higher LDL cholesterol.

Another study offered this disturbing stat: The average person in the U.S. drank 11 gallons of soft drinks per year in 1946. In 2000, the yearly average per person was nearly 50 gallons! That level of consumption equals an average of more than 500 hours per year of acid exposure in the gastrointestinal tract. And that level of exposure contributes to gastric distension, acid refulx, and maybe even esophageal cancer.

And finally, two years ago, University of British Columbia researchers found that men who drank one soft drink each day increased their risk of developing gout by 45 percent. Two or more soft drinks per day nearly doubled the risk.

So…maybe you shouldn’t actually slap that soft drink out of your friend’s hand. It’ll be a lot less messy to just forward this e-mail instead.

To Your Good Health,

Jenny Thompson

Sources:
“Soft Drink and Juice Consumption and Risk of Pancreatic Cancer: The Singapore Chinese Health Study” Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, Vol. 19, No. 2, February 2010, cebp.aacrjournals.org
“Soft Drink Consumption Linked to Pancreatic Cancer” Roxanne Nelson, Medscape, 2/10/10, medscape.com