Diet and regular sodas associated with an increase in cancer

This study was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2012 Oct 24

 

Study title and authors:

Consumption of artificial sweetener- and sugar-containing soda and risk of lymphoma and leukemia in men and women.

Schernhammer ES, Bertrand KA, Birmann BM, Sampson L, Willett WW, Feskanich D.

Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA and Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA.

 

This study can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23097267

The study evaluated whether the consumption of aspartame- and sugar-containing soda is associated with the risk of various cancers. The study included around 77,218 women, 47,810 men and lasted for 22 years.

The study found:
(a) Men having one or more daily servings of diet soda had a 31% increased risk of non-Hodgkin lymphomas compared to men without diet soda consumption.
(b) Men having one or more daily servings of diet soda had a 102% increased risk of multiple myelomas compared to men without diet soda consumption.
(c) Men with a higher consumption of regular, sugar-sweetened soda had a 66% increased risk of non-Hodgkin lymphomas.
(d) Men and women consuming one or more daily servings of diet soda had a 42% increased risk of leukemia.

The data from the 22 year long study shows that diet soda and regular sugar-sweetened soda is associated with an increase in risk in some cancers.