The Real Health Effects of Sugar: Cancer Risks and Dietary Changes
There’s increasing evidence that the excess consumption of sugar leads to myriad health problems, including diabetes, obesity, and cancer. Reducing your intake of added sugar is one of the best ways to lower your cancer risk and avoid other negative health outcomes, but it’s not easy. Sugar shows up in an endless array of food products under dozens of different names.
Sugar In Food, By Any Name
Sugar is almost unavoidable in many products, but it’s not all the same. Sugar is generally categorized as either natural or added, depending on its form and the food it is in.
Natural sugars are found in whole, unprocessed foods like fresh fruit and dairy products.
Added sugars are used as ingredients in processed foods, during cooking, or right before they’re eaten. Examples of added sugars are refined cane sugar, high fructose corn syrup, and juice concentrates.
Sugar, in its various forms, is usually listed on food labels under names that end in “-ose”, like dextrose or sucrose. Labels also list total sugars and added sugars.
Food with High Added Sugar Content
When you realize how many ingredients are actually a type of sugar, you’ll realize just how many products include added sugar. Some of the foods with the most added sugar include:
Soda
Juice
Energy drinks
Flavored teas
Flavored instant oatmeals
Sweetened cereals
Ketchup and sauces
Yogurts
Granola bars
Some products perceived as healthy, such as granola and protein bars, may have as much sugar as your favorite dessert if you look closely at the label.
How Much Sugar In a Day Is Dangerous?
According to the CDC, men should not consume more than 37 grams of added sugar per day; for women, eating over 25 grams per day increases health risks over time. Sugar should represent less than 10% of your total daily calorie intake. The American Heart Association recommends even less at just 6%.
The Health Effects of Sugar
High sugar intake has serious consequences, even for healthy, active adults. Too much sugar is very hard for your body to process, which leads to several health problems, including:
Sugar, especially liquid sugars like high-fructose corn syrup, may lead to weight gain and obesity because they aren’t satiating.
Sugar contributes to insulin resistance, which contributes to Type 2 diabetes.
Sugar raises blood pressure, triggers chronic inflammation, and increases the risk of heart disease.
How to Lower Your Sugar Intake
Reducing daily sugar intake requires a commitment to reading labels, adjusting your diet, and making time for daily exercise.
Drink water: Replace sugary drinks like soda and tea with water, sparkling water, or unsweetened tea.
Read food labels: Avoid foods with high levels of fructose, glucose, sucrose, high-fructose corn syrup, and cane juice.
Know your limit: Look for foods that contain less than 5% of your daily value of sugar; any product with 20% or more is considered very high.
If you’re ready to cut your sugar intake, start by choosing low-sugar cereals, replacing soda with water, and swapping sugar for spices or reducing sugar in baking by one-third to one-half.
Related: Proposition 65: Not Everything in California Actually Causes Cancer
Sugar and Cancer: What’s the Link?
There’s a prevailing myth that sugar feeds cancer growth; it doesn’t. Sugar does not directly accelerate cancer growth, but high consumption does increase your risk of cancer by increasing body weight and causing chronic inflammation.
Excess body weight has been linked to 13 types of cancer, with some cancers more closely associated with sugar than others.
Chronic inflammation has been linked to colorectal, breast cancer, and lung cancer, among others.
Reduce sugar intake, choose whole foods over ultra-processed products, and make regular exercise part of your daily health regimen. Except for smoking cessation, there may be no better way to lower your risk of lifestyle-related cancer.
Let’s Make Prevention A Priority
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