A small glass of juice or soda a day is linked to increased risk of cancer, study finds

By Nina Avramova, CNN
Updated 10:17 PM ET, Wed July 10, 2019

A new study has linked drinking just a small glass of a sugary drink per day -- 100 ml, about a third of a typical can of soda -- to an 18% increase in overall cancer risk and a 22% increase in risk for breast cancer.

The research, which looked at more than 100,000 French adults, links consumption of sugary drinks to an increased risk of some cancers. This follows a recent study linking sugary beverage consumption to greater risk of premature death.

"The results indicate statistically significant correlations between the consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks and risk of all cancers combined, and of breast cancer," said Ian Johnson, nutrition researcher and emeritus fellow, Quadram Institute Bioscience, who wasn't involved in the research.

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"What we observed was that the main driver of the association seems to be really the sugar contained in these sugary drinks," said Touvier, who is the research director of the Nutritional Epidemiology Research Team of the National Health and Medical Research Institute at the Paris 13 University.

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Another possibility is that additives, such as 4-methylimidazole, which is found in drinks that contain caramel coloring, could play a role in cancer formation.

Touvier suggested that people should stick to public health guidelines that recommend limiting sugary drinks to a maximum of one glass a day.

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The research found no link between diet beverages and cancer. The authors warned that this finding should be interpreted with caution, as this type of beverage had a relatively low consumption among the study participants.

A study published earlier this year found that drinking two or more of any kind of artificially sweetened drink a day was linked to an increased risk of clot-based strokes, heart attacks and early death in women over 50.

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