Correlation Between Dietary Sugar Intake And Risk For Cancer

The past fifty years has seen a spike in the consumption of sugar, that number totaling a tripling increase. However, sugar is not the only risk factor here, alcohol and tobacco can also be attributed with the spike, albeit not as prevalent as sugar. The biggest question that Lustig et al. poses to its’ readers is this: “What aspects of the Western diet should be the focus of intervention”? (par. 3) The current USDA has been deemed “boogeymen” of diets, as well as the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). Lustig et al. all believe that our attention should be turned towards “added sugar”, which is a sweetener that has fructose in it. Perhaps the biggest controversy from the past fifty years has been none other than a severe culprit that experts know as high fructose corn syrup or HFCS.

Every year, 1.2 million people are diagnosed with cancer and more than 500,000 people die from the disease. According to the National Cancer Institute, over 30% of these deaths can be attributed to diet. This means that the average person can greatly lower his risk of getting cancer simply by changing his diet. There is, of course, no guarantee against cancer, but the lifestyle choices that we make now can have a huge impact on our lives in the future. (http://www.aicr.org/expert1.htm)

Sugary beverages suggest a poor dietary quality; they are loaded with added sugars and attribute to the body’s energy density. “A 20-year study on 120,000 men and women found that people who increased their sugary drink consumption by one 12-ounce serving per day gained more weight over time—about 4 pounds per year” (19). Through increasing the daily intake in trivial increments, the body substantially results in an increased BMI (body mass index) and an increased body fat percentage score. Another study conducted at Harvard found that a 60 percent increase occurs in children for each 12-ounce they additionally drink daily. (________) The growing correlation between obesity and sugar has led to further studies, and statistical data. Researchers have revealed that in total, “half the people in the U.S. consume sugary drinks; 1 in 4 get at least 200 calories from such drinks; and 5% get at least 567 calories.” It was additionally found that one-fourth of Americans are consuming more than 135 grams of sugar per day from soda and other sweetened beverages, which compares to people of the past who only had 10 grams of fructose a day (_____). Such a high daily intake of sugar and calories illustrates the risk that arises when people consume too much sugar; that is, sugary drinks result in weight issues and medical consequences.

The relationship between sugar and diabetes is quite complex. The quantity of sugar delivered into the blood stream matter more than the source. Nevertheless, many refined food items such as beverages contain free sugar which leads to a rapid rise in blood sugar levels. Many argue that sugar intake cannot directly result in diabetes. However, everyone agrees that weight gain (which may be caused by excessive sugar intake) has a direct relationship with diabetes. This was reported by a review of several studies showing a link between sugar-sweetened drinks and

Listening to the Dana Farber Podcast: Sugar and Cancer, reinforces that not promoting healthy eating habits early on in childhood can be detrimental to your health in more ways than one. Hilary Wright the speaker speaking in the podcast states that the excessive intake of sugar can lead to an overgrowth of hormones like insulin and insulin like growth ultimately, overloading the body with glucose. As the body works to process this excess and eliminate the insulin

Down the road, added sugar has increased health complications tenfold. According to Quanhe Yang, from the Center of Disease and Control, “ 'death resulting from cardiovascular disease increases exponentially from added sugar consumption.' ”(Hellmich) Atherosclerosis, the most common cause of cardiovascular disease, is caused by correctable problems such as

Birt, D. F.; Pelling, J. C.; Nair, S., and Lepley, D. Diet intervention for modifying cancer risk. Prog Clin Biol Res. 1996; 395:223-34.

Tobacco, alcohol and poor diet are the main risk factors associated with cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, and respiratory disease that kills approximately 35 million per year. Out of the three risk factors, an inadequate diet was found to the culprit of more diseases than smoking and liquor consumption combined. In Aseem Malhorta’s (2014) article “Sugar is now enemy number one in the western diet”, he claims that added sugar should be regulated as it is a health hazard that has caused the increasing prevalence of diabetes and obesity. Malhorta only focuses on sugar being the main causative agent in causing negative health outcomes, he fails to address the fact that there are many other confounding factors associated with each disease

Throughout the years America has started to blame sugar for obesity, heart disease, etc. To an extent we can blame sugar. When someone eats too much or eats the processed chemical filled sugar it could have a negative impact on that person's health. For example: “[..] Chemical makeup enters the bloodstream more quickly than plain sugar.” (Richards). Processed sugar enters into the body and bloodstream much faster than natural sugar does. Which causes too much sugar build up in our bloodstream makes the insulin work harder to process it all out. Until the insulin does its job the sugar just floats around in the blood. We as people can blame sugar for all of our issues when a person eats too much sugar. “I do not support unbelievable amount of GMO high fructose corn syrup” (Konie). That is when heart disease and obesity come into play, when you personally consume too much.

Food consumption that is high in sugar has been linked with obesity rates, so in order to cut obesity rates we must avoid a heavy load of sugar intake. In order to understand why sugar is “trending” as something to avoid in our diet, here are some reasons why: sugar has been found to be poor for our metabolism and harmful to our health (Flegal). It contains no essential nutrients. Sugar is also high in fructose, which can essentially overload your liver. Sugar can also cause insulin resistance. This is something strongly correlated with obesity rates, which can also be associated with diabetes. So with sugars effects to insulin resistance, it can be a contributor to type II diabetes as well as other chronic diseases. A specific note of this diabetes influence sugar has comes for an analysis done on caloric consumption and diabetes. “When people ate 150 calories more every day, the rate of diabetes went up 0.1%. But if those 150 calories came from a can of fizzy drink, the rate went up 1.1%” (Lambert) showing that added sugar is eleven times more harmful within the same calorie

Researchers who are publishing in the Journalist of the American Medical Association’s Internal Medicine have found that Americans who consume the most sugar are twice as likely to die from a heart disease compared to those of us who limit our sugar intake to about 160 calories a day. That is about 10 teaspoons.’ (http://www.npr.org/2014/02/05/271873707/you-may-be-eating-more-sugar-than-you-realize-and-thats-bad) (citaat)

Sugar is linked to obesity. Obesity is a cause of diabetes. Therefore some people believe sugar is not the cause of diabetes, obesity is. ¨However sugar primes the body for obesity which cause diabetes.¨according to webmd.com. A study in prev.com shows,¨One study found that for every extra 150 calories from sugar available per person each day, diabetes prevalence rises by 1.1%.¨ For example eating too much sugar can cause obesity, when obesity occurs, there is a large chance for diabetes. Sugar does not cause diabetes but it is a leading

As we hear of more studies exclaiming alarming findings of negative health concerns related to obesity and our continuously growing percentage of obesity in our country, particularly childhood obesity, sugar is in the spotlight. We often hear of dieticians and weight loss experts warning us that we

Cancer can arise due to multiple causes, however knowing and avoiding some cancer causing substances may prevent many cancers. A major known cause of cancer cases is due to environmental and lifestyle factors. Examples of environmental and lifestyle factors that can increase the chances of cancer includes: cigarette smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, poor diet and lack of exercise, excessive sunlight exposure, and engaging in risky sexual behaviors which can increase exposure to certain viruses (Huether & McCance, 2012, p. 253).

The research performed by Lorenzo Cohen and his team at the University of Texas, pointed out that sugar fuel cancer growth and refined sugar as the major culprit of cancer. The