Do you find yourself drinking a sugar-sweetened beverage every day? Be cautious, as this habit could increase the risk of chronic liver disease and even liver cancer.
Elevated Risks of Liver Cancer, Liver Disease
This study was led by scientists from Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and it drew data from a comprehensive prospective clinical database in the United States: the Women’s Health Initiative. The database has been gathering information from a cohort of more than 160,000 postmenopausal women aged 50 to 79. The information collection concluded in 2020 after a follow-up period of approximately 21 years.“Epidemiological studies on dietary factors and liver cancer and chronic liver disease mortality are limited,” the researchers emphasized in the report. “To our knowledge, this is the first study to report an association between sugar-sweetened beverage intake and chronic liver disease mortality.”
- Women who consumed three servings or less per month.
- Women who drank one to six servings per week.
- Women who drank one or more servings per day (with one serving equivalent to 12 ounces or 355 milliliters, roughly the size of a standard beverage can).
In the study, “chronic liver disease” refers to conditions such as nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, cirrhosis, liver fibrosis, alcoholic liver disease, and chronic hepatitis. During the calculation, potential factors that could influence liver disease, including age, ethnicity, education level, smoking and alcohol consumption habits, and body mass index, were taken into account.
Known risk factors for liver cancer include hepatitis B and hepatitis C infections, metabolic disorders, excessive alcohol consumption, and foods contaminated with aflatoxins, such as peanuts and corn.
The Impact of Sugar-Sweetened Drinks on the Liver
Other studies have also corroborated the damaging effects of sugar-sweetened drinks on the liver.
- Sugar-sweetened drinks may contribute to obesity and spikes in blood sugar, leading to insulin resistance—all of which are risk factors for liver cancer and liver disease.
- Sugar-sweetened drinks contain significant amounts of fructose, which can lead to the buildup of liver fat and, in turn, potentially trigger the development of liver cancer.
- Consuming sugar-sweetened drinks can lead to abnormal blood lipid levels and have an adverse impact on gut microbiota, which, in turn, affects liver health.
- Metabolites produced after consumption (such as taurine and phenylalanine) are linked to liver cell carcinoma.
- Sugar-sweetened drinks contain various chemicals (such as caramel color and additives) that may harm the body.
Researchers Urge Caution
While establishing a clear link between sugar-sweetened drinks and liver disease, the results of this study indicate that the consumption of artificially sweetened drinks “was not associated significantly” with liver cancer or chronic liver disease mortality.“This finding is not that surprising,” the two lead authors of the study, Longgang Zhao, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Channing Division of Network Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and Xuehong Zhang, associate professor at Harvard Medical School and associate epidemiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, said during an interview with The Epoch Times. They explained this is because “the consumption level of artificially sweetened beverages is low in this population (postmenopausal women), and the sample size of liver cancer and death due to chronic liver diseases is relatively small.”
However, they emphasized that “these results should be interpreted with caution”—in other words, the results don’t mean artificially sweetened drinks are safer than sugar-sweetened drinks.
“Additionally, other studies also indicate that artificially sweetened beverages have been associated with a higher risk of obesity, Type 2 diabetes, all-cause mortality, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease incidence,” the authors said.
Therefore, further research is needed.
‘Low-Sugar Diet’ as a Public Health Strategy
This is a high-quality study that “points to a link between sugar and liver disease and liver cancer,” said Dr. Jason Fung, author of “The Obesity Code” and “The Cancer Code” and a nephrologist specializing in reversing Type 2 diabetes, acknowledging the study’s findings in an interview with The Epoch Times.However, he also noted that “it’s an observational study, which is less robust than a controlled trial.”
The authors admitted that this research shouldn’t be hastily assumed to imply causation.
Due to the study questionnaire’s design, the differentiation of types of sweetened drinks is limited, and it isn’t possible to specifically categorize artificial sweeteners.
However, Mr. Zhang and Mr. Zhao said, “If our study findings are confirmed, reducing the consumption of sweetened beverages could become a public health strategy to alleviate the burden of liver disease.”
Dr. Fung said, “We should be promoting a diet lower in sugar, rather than the previous confused nutritional messaging of just reducing calories and reducing fat.”
Mr. Zhang and Mr. Zhao explained, “Given that the study focused on postmenopausal women, studies involving men and younger women are needed to examine the associations more comprehensively. Furthermore, more research is needed to elucidate the potential mechanisms (linking sugar-sweetened-drink consumption to liver disease and liver cancer) by integrating genetics, animal/experimental studies, and -omics [genomics, metabolomics, metagenomics, and so forth] data.”
