Drinking at least one sugar-sweetened beverage every day was associated with nearly three times the risk of developing stomach Cancer compared with consuming fewer than one such drink per month, according to new Research from Mass General Brigham.
The study examined more than 100,000 participants from the Nurses' Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-Up Study, two long-running Research projects examining connections between lifestyle, diet and chronic disease, per Fox News.
Researchers found that higher consumption of sugary beverages was associated with a greater risk of gastric Cancer after accounting for other known risk factors.
The drinks examined included regular soda, fruit punch, lemonade and sports beverages, which commonly contain fructose as a primary sweetener.
Andrew T. Chan, a gastroenterologist and epidemiologist with the Mass General Brigham Cancer Institute, said the findings are particularly concerning as gastrointestinal cancers have been increasing among younger adults.
"It's definitely a concern because we are seeing an increase in cancers of the gastrointestinal tract, particularly in young people [under] 50," Chan told Fox News Digital.
"Our increasing consumption of sugary drinks and also ultra-processed foods is likely to be contributing to some of these Cancer trends," he added.
Gastric Cancer has a well-established connection to Helicobacter pylori, a type of bacteria that can live in the stomach lining.
Researchers examined that factor in a subset of participants and found no connection between sugary drink consumption and H. pylori, supporting further investigation into whether fructose may play a role.
The study also found that greater fructose consumption was associated with a higher risk of stomach Cancer.
Artificially sweetened beverages, including diet sodas and other low-calorie carbonated drinks, were not associated with an increased risk among the study participants.
The findings come as sugary beverages remain common in the United States. CDC data shows that about 63% of U.S. adults report drinking sugar-sweetened beverages at least once a day.
Researchers cautioned that the study does not establish that sugary drinks directly cause stomach Cancer. Because the Research was observational, it can identify an association but cannot prove cause and effect.
"The study is unable to really prove cause and effect," Chan said. "What we did see was an association."
The researchers also noted that participants were predominantly White healthcare professionals, meaning the findings need to be studied in more diverse populations.
"We certainly need to do more Research to understand whether this association between sugary-sweetened beverages and stomach Cancer is truly causal," Chan said.
The study was published in the journal "Gastro Hep Advances."