Pancreatic cancer doesn’t come up as often as breast, colon or lung cancer, but it’s one of the most serious diagnoses a person can face. It’s often called a “silent” cancer because it rarely causes noticeable symptoms early on. By the time signs like abdominal pain, unexplained weight loss or yellowing skin show up, the disease has often spread, which is a big reason it remains one of the deadliest cancers.
The reassuring part is that pancreatic cancer is still relatively uncommon compared with many other cancers, and researchers have a growing understanding of what raises the odds of developing it. Some risk factors, like age and family history, are out of your hands. Others, including smoking, carrying excess weight and type 2 diabetes, are things you can influence.
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Scientists have also spent years studying how diet fits into the picture—not just what’s on your plate but what’s in your glass. Many of the habits we think of as small, harmless indulgences are the ones we repeat several times a week without a second thought, and that repetition is exactly what researchers look at when they track people’s health over time. One popular drink in particular has caught the attention of researchers and oncologists alike, and the amount linked to a higher risk may be lower than you’d expect.?SIGN UP for Parade’s health newsletter with expert-approved tips, healthy eats, exercises, news & more to help you stay healthy & feel your best self?
The Popular Drink Oncologists Link to Pancreatic Cancer
The answer is sugary soda. Dr. Mary Chamberlin, MD, Breast Oncologist, Dartmouth Health, previously told Parade that drinking carbonated beverages with sugar or artificial sweeteners, like soda and diet soda, is a habit worth quitting by 50 to lower your risk of cancer. “This reduces intake of known carcinogens or inflammatory triggers,” Dr. Chamberlin said.
Research supports that advice. In the Singapore Chinese Health Study, researchers followed 60,524 adults for 14 years and found that people who drank two or more soft drinks a week had an 87% higher risk of pancreatic cancer than people who drank none. Juice, on the other hand, showed no significant link.
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That headline number needs some context. Two drinks a week was the cutoff for the highest group, but people in that group averaged about five a week, so two sodas alone don’t account for the full 87% increase. The study was observational, meaning it shows a link, not cause and effect. It also included only 140 pancreatic cancer cases, and the soda drinkers were more likely to smoke and ate more red meat, both of which could play a role. The study didn’t separate diet from regular soda, though most soda consumed in Singapore is regular.
A separate study from Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center compared 213 people with pancreatic cancer to 852 people without it and found that drinking one or more regular colas a day was linked to 55% higher odds of the disease.
Why would soda matter? Researchers believe sugar-sweetened drinks can contribute to obesity, insulin resistance and chronic inflammation, all of which are linked to cancer development.
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How to Lower Your Risk of Pancreatic Cancer
It’s important to keep these findings in perspective. Because pancreatic cancer is relatively rare, even a meaningful increase in relative risk translates to a small increase in any one person’s overall risk. Still, cutting back on soda is an easy change with benefits beyond your pancreas. Dr. Chamberlin recommended swapping soda for unsweetened seltzer, herbal tea or plain water.
Other cancer-protective habits matter too. Dr. Tingting Tan, MD, PhD, Medical Oncologist and Hematologist, City of Hope, previously told Parade that delaying recommended cancer screenings is a habit to stop by 50. “The risk of cancer increases with age, so it’s vital for people who are 50 or older to follow screening recommendations so that potential cancers can be prevented, detected or treated early,” Dr. Tan said. There’s no routine screening test for pancreatic cancer in people at average risk, so if it runs in your family, talk to your doctor about whether extra monitoring makes sense.
Adapted from Parade’s The One Habit To Quit By 50 To Lower Your Cancer Risk, According to Oncologists by Emily Laurence Sardinha.
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Mary Chamberlin, MD, Breast Oncologist, Dartmouth Health Tingting Tan, MD, PhD, Medical Oncologist and Hematologist, City of Hope Mueller, N. T., Odegaard, A., Anderson, K., Yuan, J.-M., Gross, M., Koh, W.-P., & Pereira, M. A. (2010). Soft drink and juice consumption and risk of pancreatic cancer: The Singapore Chinese Health Study. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, 19(2), 447–455. Sugar sweetened and artificially sweetened beverage consumption and pancreatic cancer: A retrospective study. (2023). Nutrients, 15(2), 275.Hence then, the article about oncologists say this popular drink is linked to pancreatic cancer even just 2 a week hint it s not alcohol was published today ( ) and is available on Parade ( Saudi Arabia ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
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