Soft drink cancer link

DOWNING soft drinks increases your risk of cancer even if the sugar is not showing up on your waistline.

A study of 35,000 Australians has shown that regardless of a person’s body size, their risk of suffering from 11 different cancers rose sharply if they drank one or more soft drinks a day.

Diseases such as aggressive prostate, ovary, stomach, kidney, colorectal, pancreatic and post menopausal breast cancers are usually associated with obesity. However, the Cancer Council and University of Melbourne study found frequent sugary drink consumption also increased their risk by 18 per cent.

More surprisingly, Assoc Prof Allison Hodge said the increased cancer risk from sugar was present regardless of whether the drinker was overweight or not.

The results, which are published in the Public Health Nutrition journal today, are supported by findings showing the chances of suffering from those same cancers was not increased for those who drank diet versions of the soft drinks.