How much sugar is in a typical sugar-sweetened beverage?
On average, you should not consume more than 6 teaspoons of sugar, the equivalent of 24g, a day. As you may suspect, sugar-sweetened beverages contain far more than the daily recommended amount of sugar. Here’s a breakdown of how much sugar is in one serving of these drinks:
- Soft drinks: 39g
- Artificially flavoured juice drinks: 20 – 26g
- Energy drinks: 41g
- Sweetened tea with condensed milk: 22g
- Bubble tea: 54g
Can heavy consumption of sugary drinks increase the risk of colorectal cancer?
Prolonged consumption of sugary food and drinks can increase blood sugar levels, which lead to insulin resistance. This can raise your risk of colon cancer – as well as other cancers like kidney cancer.
The rates of colon cancer among the younger age groups are on the rise, and a new study has shown that drinking too many sugary beverages may be to blame.
A recently published Nurses’ Health Study II showed that women who drank 2 or more sugar-sweetened beverages per day had double the risk of developing colon cancer before the age of 50, compared to women who consumed 1 or fewer sweetened beverages per week.
This study included more than 95,000 nurses, aged 25 – 42 when the study first began in 1989. The women provided information on สมัครสมาชิก UFABET วันนี้ รับเครดิตฟรีทุกวัน their diet every 4 years for nearly 25 years. 41,272 women reported on what and how many sugar-sweetened beverages they drank in their teen years. In the 24 years of follow-up, 109 women developed colon cancer before turning 50.
Having a higher intake of sugar-sweet drinks in adulthood was associated with a higher risk of colorectal cancer.
Even after researchers controlled other confounding factors that contribute to colon cancer risk such as personal family history. This risk was doubled when women consumed sodas and other sugary drinks during their teen years. Specifically, each serving of sugar-sweetened beverage consumed daily in adulthood was associated with a 16% higher risk of colon cancer. Conversely, for women aged 13 – 18, each sugar-sweetened beverage consumed had a 32% increased risk of developing colon cancer before 50.
Limiting the consumption of sugary drinks, in young people especially, will be beneficial for public health and it can also help to minimise our risk for colorectal cancer.
The rates of colorectal cancer in people under 50 have increased sharply in recent years.
Compared with people born around 1950, those born around 1990 have twice the risk for colon cancer and 4 times the risk for rectal cancer.
Due to the rise in colon cancer in young people, the American Cancer Society now recommends those aged 45 and above, and have average risk for this disease to go for regular screening. If you suspect that you might have colon cancer, do make an appointment with your doctor to undergo a colonoscopy screening.