Study Links Soda Consumption to Pancreatic Cancer

[Wifezilla]

There is a brand of soda made with Stevia. You can get it at vitamin cottage. It's pretty good. Can't remember the name though. Duh!

 

[Dace]

One thing that I would like to point out that I heard discussed on tv was that there was a portion of people in the study who consumed fruit juice and were NOT as likely to develop the pancreatic cancer....of course they do not specify if it was a 100 percent fruit juice or a blend of juice and sugar.

An important point to consider in this study seems to be that since we really do not fully understand digestion and nutrition (remember the whole beta carotene fad? Turned out taking BC supplements did not give the same result....you had to actually consume the carrot to get the benefits.. just one example) this study is just a start and it could very well be the combination of chemicals in conjunction with the HFCS in the soda that puts one at that high risk for cancer. We really do not know because HFCS was not isolated.

Hats off to Wifezilla for spending plenty of time on her soap box trying to educate us all on sugar! (and Free of course)

Tommy....you may want to look for dehydrated cane sugar in your local health food store. It is still sugar but it has not been refined with loads of unnecessary chemicals.

 

[meriruka]

To expand on Dace's suggestion above.....
Evaporated cane juice is often called Rapadura. Good stuff.
It has a slight molasses taste, but easy to get used to. I use it in recipes that just don't turn out well using honey, to carmelize onions and for guests who want sugar in their coffee or tea.

 

[Wifezilla]

Or cane juice. One less processing step it has gone through.

Here is a great lecture on fructose by an Endocrinologist who explains what happens to your liver when you have a diet high in fructose. It gets a bit geeky at times, but it is very enlightening.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM

 

[sylvie]

For the last fifty years the number of people drinking soda has been huge and I am surprised that, if what this study says is true, there isn't an epidemic of pancreatic cancer of huge proportions- beyond the Black Plague size.
I only know of two who had it and they didn't survive. I know for a fact that one only drank black coffee, no sugar.

 

[Dace]

Sylvie, more studies need to be done to isolate what are the contributing factors, but you are right in that our nation currently dealing with an enormous epidemic of food onset illness. Primarily obesity and type 2 diabetes. They say that kids born after 200 have a 1 in 3 chance of developing T2D before high school! This generation is also predicted to have (for the first time) a shorter life span than their parents.

78% of chronic disease is related to diet....so we are dealing with something much larger than a Black Plague sized epidemic of health issues due to our diet.

As for this study in particular, more studies will be done to attempt to further isolate what in the soda is the problem, but the more important point is, we should stop consuming so much garbage and take control of our own health. No study or government body is going to do it for us. We need to see the writing on the wall and stop making excuses. (not aimed at you my dear, just generalizing!)

 

[meriruka]

For a while there I remember study after study coming out stating that _______ (insert substance here) causes cancer in lab rats.
Common sense tells you that stuffing any living creature with an overabundance of any one thing will cause it to die of something other than old age. Just seems like moderation is key.

 

[Wifezilla]

I am surprised that if what this study says is true, there isn't an epidemic of pancreatic cancer of huge proportions

The amount of fructose we consume is relatively new. Soda used to contain sugar, not hfcs. The damage caused by things like high fructose corn syrup is cumulative. Not everyone receiving that damage will get cancer or even specifically pancreatic cancer. They WILL, however, become obese, get high blood pressure and/or develop type 2 diabetes.

The last stats I saw on obesity shows that 40% of Americans are overweight or obese. The lecture I linked to talks about an epidemic of obese 6 month olds. There is also an epidemic of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in children and this is also linked to fructose consumption.

As with a lot of carbohydrate related issues, it takes a while for the damage to catch up. But then in the next generation, the damage seems to show up quicker.

 

[claud]

I would guess the link is more likely because of the general lifestyle than the soda itself. Not to say the study is not worth something. Most studies start small like this and it's really difficult to eliminate the lifestyle factor unless you'd control peoples entire diet for 40 years or so - not likely. Mostly they are based on the person's own account of their diet - and that's worth something too.

Alcohol consumption has been directly linked to pancreatic cancer for some time however.

I've known a couple of people that have had pancreatic cancer, one of which was my dad. My dad never drank soda.

 

[Wifezilla]

Alcohol consumption has been directly linked to pancreatic cancer for some time however.

True. But what most people do not realize is the damage caused by high fructose corn syrup is much like the damage caused by alcohol.