A large-scale study of women in the United Kingdom revealed that consuming sugar-sweetened beverages increased the risk of developing endometrial cancer (EC), according to findings published in Frontiers in Public Health.
Participants who had more than one sugary drink daily had a 29% higher risk of EC than those who did not consume sugary beverages. Similarly, those who consumed one sugary drink per day or part of a drink had a 28% greater risk. The authors defined a sugar-sweetened drink as a can, glass or 250 mL carton of a fizzy drink or “squash” (a drink made from concentrated fruit syrup). Artificially sweetened beverages and natural juices were categorized separately.
Results were based on an analysis of data from the UK Biobank, which contains information on over 500,000 individuals across England, Wales and Scotland. Participants reported drinking behaviors using 24-hour dietary recalls.
The study included 92,777 women with a uterus did not receive a cancer diagnosis before or at baseline. Participants, who were 95% white, had an average age of 55 years. Over a median follow-up of 13.3 years, 682 individuals (0.74%) were diagnosed with EC. The authors adjusted their analyses for several sociodemographic, reproductive and lifestyle factors, as well as presence of comorbidities.
Read more about EC causes and risk factors
While consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages was linked with a greater EC risk, no significant associations were found for artificially sweetened beverages or natural juices.
Replacing one unit per day of sugary beverages with artificially sweetened beverages reduced EC risk by 12%. In addition, replacing one unit per day of sugary beverages with natural juice decreased the risk by 9%.
Body mass index (BMI) mediated 18.2% of the association between sugar-sweetened beverage consumption and risk of EC.
“These results demonstrate that choosing [artificially sweetened beverages] or natural juices might contribute to a lower risk of EC and also have potential clinical and public health relevance given the widespread consumption of [sugar sweetened beverages],” the authors concluded. “Further research is needed to confirm these associations in more diverse populations and clarify the underlying biological mechanisms.”
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