How can sugar cause cancer

In addition, eating enough calories during cancer treatment can be difficult. Adding new, restrictive dietary changes can often lead to more stress which can also compromise your immune system. The following information is what the research shows in relation to sugar and cancer and how to incorporate healthy eating based on these findings.

While most fruits do have a high sugar content, they are also rich in nutrients that are known to be cancer protective. Milk is another food that sometimes gets excluded due to its sugar content, but it too, is rich in important nutrients such as protein, which is in high demand during cancer treatment, and calcium. These nutrition powerhouses should not be grouped with other high sugar foods such as candy, cookies, and cakes.

These sugar rich foods are high in sugar but low in healthy nutrients and should be eaten sparingly. There was no evidence of a direct association between sugar consumption and an increased risk of cancer of any type. Most cancer cells grow faster than normal cells and therefore require more energy.

It has been shown that glucose metabolism is often altered in cancer cells to meet the increased demand for glucose. However, this does not mean that consuming sugar will make cancer cells grow faster or cause cancer.

All foods are broken down into glucose as all cells, not just cancer cells, require glucose for energy. Cancer Council encourages healthy eating and maintaining a healthy body weight to help protect against cancer and supports the Australian Dietary Guidelines that recommend people enjoy a wide variety of foods from the five food groups each day. There are more than types of cancer that affect almost every part of the body, such as breast cancer , lung cancer , colorectal cancer , skin cancer , cervical cancer , prostate cancer , and lymphoma.

There are no conclusive studies on human subjects to suggest that sugar causes cancer or encourages cancer cells to grow faster. All cells, including cancer cells, need blood sugar for energy. Nor does depriving cancer cells of sugar slow their growth. A cancerous tumour that has not spread will not spread because of sugar. However, some research has shown that cancer cells do consume more sugar glucose compared to normal cells.

Still, there is no need to completely cut off the supply of sugar from our diet. The human body requires sugars to function; starving it of energy will only cause the body to weaken. What we should avoid, however, is the excessive intake of sugar. Too much sugar that is not used up by the body can lead to an increase in blood sugar and hyper-insulinaemia excessive production of insulin. This causes inflammatory responses in our bodies that may lead to an increased risk of cancer.

A high-sugar diet may also contribute to diabetes and obesity, which have been linked to an increased risk of developing various types of cancer. While research on sugary drinks and the risk of cancer is still limited, a study published by The British Medical Journal in adds to existing evidence of a link between higher consumption of sugary drinks and an increased risk of some cancers.

In this study, a team of researchers in France surveyed more than , adults with an average of age of 42; 79 per cent of whom were women. The participants completed at least two hour online validated dietary questionnaires that calculated their daily intake of sugary drinks sugar-sweetened beverages and per cent fruit juices and artificially sweetened diet beverages, and followed up with them for up to nine years.

The study found that just a ml increase of sugary drinks per day was associated with an 18 per cent increased risk of cancer, and a 22 per cent increase in breast cancer. This association was seen for the intake of both sugar-sweetened drinks and fruit juices, while the intake of artificially sweetened diet beverages was not associated with an increased risk of cancer.

Other well-known risk factors for cancer, such as age, gender, family history, smoking habits and physical activity levels, were also taken into account. There is no need to ban sugar completely from the diet.