You’ve probably heard that sugar is carcinogenic or that it helps cancer cells grow and feed. Maybe this issue makes you think whether sugar or sugar itself will cause me to get cancer? Should I stop eating sugar for fear of getting cancer or not?
In the following, we will explain everything you need to know about the carcinogenicity of sugar or the relationship between cancer and sugar in general.
Is sugar carcinogenic?
In some ways, it makes sense to think that sugar leads to the growth or development of cancer. Every cell in the body uses blood sugar (glucose) for energy. But cancer cells use about 200 times more sugar than normal cells. Cancer cells grow a lot and therefore consume more glucose. Of course, the disadvantages of consuming too much sugar are not only related to providing the necessary energy for the growth of cancer cells. Consuming too many calories from sugar is linked to weight gain, obesity, and diabetes, all of which are risk factors for cancer.
Aside from the fact that eating too much sugar can cause you many health problems and that these problems can increase your chances of getting cancer, there is no evidence that eating sugar directly causes cancer cells to grow faster or cause cancer.
What cancers does sugar consumption cause?
We cannot directly say that sugar consumption causes cancer. But consuming too much sugary stuff like sugar can lead to weight gain, obesity, and diabetes, all of which can put you at higher risk for a variety of cancers, including:
- Breast Cancer
- Gastrointestinal cancers, including colon and rectal cancers
- Cancer in the uterine wall
- Pancreatic cancer
- Prostate Cancer.
All cells in our body need glucose for energy. Even if you completely eliminate sugar from your diet, your body will still make glucose from other sources, including protein and fat.
What are the dangers of sugar consumption?
Many people rely on fast food and processed foods for their meals and snacks. Since these products often contain added sugar, a large part of these people’s daily calorie intake comes from sugar.
For example, in the United States, added sugars in foods account for up to 17% of total calorie intake for adults and up to 14% for children. The Dietary Guidelines recommend limiting your calories from added sugar to less than 10 percent per day.
Consuming high amounts of sugar can be dangerous for health for 11 reasons:
- It leads to weight gain
- It may increase the risk of heart disease.
- It is associated with increased acne breakouts.
- Increased risk of type 2 diabetes
- May increase the risk of cancer (indirectly)
- Increasing the likelihood of depression
- The possibility of increasing the speed of the skin aging process (premature skin aging)
- Possible increase in the aging of body cells.
- Drain your body’s energy faster.
- May lead to fatty liver.
- Increasing the possibility of contracting other diseases, including kidney diseases, or damaging and negative effects on the health of the teeth.
Is brown sugar carcinogenic?
Sugars that can feed your cancer cells include refined sugars, brown sugar, or white sugar, but not fruit sugar. In fact, fruit sugar helps shrink your cancer cells due to its high fiber content and high concentration of vitamins and minerals.
Is sugar consumption dangerous for cancer patients?
You must have heard that people with cancer should not eat sugar because it can cause cancer to grow faster. More research is needed to understand the relationship between dietary sugar and cancer. All types of cells, including cancer cells, depend on blood sugar (glucose) for energy. But giving cancer cells more sugar does not make them grow faster. Consequently, depriving cancer cells of sugar does not slow their growth.
This misconception may be due in part to the fact that all tissues in the body use sugar for growth, but tissues that use more energy, including cancer cells, absorb and consume larger amounts of sugar. Because of this, some people have concluded that cancer cells grow faster with sugar. But this is not true.
Cancer patients should consult their nutritionist and physician about their diet. Based on the condition of the disease and the needs of the patient’s body, the doctor will give the necessary advice about the diet to the patient at any time. Therefore, we cannot tell you clearly in this article whether sugar should be present in the diet of cancer patients or not.
Does sugar consumption itself cause cancer?
One of the general questions about the link between sugar and cancer is whether sugar alone can cause cancer. According to cancer in this regard:
The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) reviewed all available evidence to update the Australian Dietary Guidelines and concluded that sucrose consumption is not associated with an increased risk of cancer.
In this research, there was enough evidence to conclude that there is no direct relationship between the consumption of sugars and cancer of the pancreas, colon, breast and bladder. There was also no evidence of a direct link between sugar consumption and an increased risk of cancer of any type.