Report
No link between soda, coffee and colon cancer, says study
A new study suggests that drinking even high amounts of coffee and sugary soft drinks doesn’t boost the risk of contracting colon cancer.
In the new review published on 7 May in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Dr Xuehong Zhang and colleagues from the Harvard School of Public Health examined 13 studies from North America and Europe. Together, the studies analysed more than 730,000 people, of whom more than 5,600 developed colon cancer.
The research showed that drinking more than six 8oz cups of coffee or 8oz cups of sugared soft drinks a day did not boost the risk of colon cancer. The researchers said the findings were not affected much by factors such as gender, smoking and alcohol consumption.
Previous research has been inconsistent about whether coffee and tea boost the risk of cancer. Sugary sodas, meanwhile, are linked to obesity and other conditions that are thought to boost the risk of colon cancer in particular.
The new study, however, found a small boost in colon cancer risk for heavy tea drinkers who drank more than four 8oz cups of non-herbal tea a day. But since there were not so many people that consumed that much tea, more study is needed to determine if too much tea raises risk, the researchers said.
In a commentary, researchers from the Arizona Cancer Center said that, “contrary to coffee and tea consumption, intake of sweetened beverages begins in childhood in many countries. Furthermore, sweetened beverage consumption is generally much lower among older adults. These differences in exposure suggest that intake of sweetened beverages may need to be assessed earlier in life to adequately assess its association with health outcomes.”
Source: Health Day
See also
Latest news
| |