Sugary drinks increase the risk of liver cancer and chronic liver disease in women at the postmenopausal stage, a study reveals      

A new study has found that daily consumption of sugary drinks can increase the risk of liver cancer in older women, particularly those who are at the postmenopausal stage.

The study published in JAMA examined more than 90,000 postmenopausal women and found that those who consumed one or more sweetened beverages daily were at a higher risk of chronic liver disease, cancer, and death compared with women who consumed less than one sweetened drink a week.

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Sugary drinks cause liver cancer: What’s the link between sweetened drinks and liver health?

Link between liver health and sweetened drinks. (Photo via Pexels/Andrea Piacquadio)

According to researchers, this is the first study to examine the link between sugar-sweetened beverages and liver cancer mortality.

As per researchers, the intake of sugary drinks, which is thought to be a major risk factor for health concerns like diabetes and obesity, may also increase inflammation and insulin resistance in the body, both of which are linked to an increased chance of liver cancer and chronic liver disease, including fatty liver, cirrhosis, and more.

For the study, researchers evaluated almost 99,000 postmenopausal women between the ages of 50 and 79 and used data from a study called the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI).

Researchers looked at the participants’ health outcomes for over two decades based on their typical consumption of fruit drinks and soft drinks. Their intake of sugary drinks was recorded at a 3-year follow-up by the researchers.

Furthermore, participants were also divided into three categories based on their answers. Categories included women who drank 3 or fewer sugary drinks per month, between 1 and 6 servings in a week, and 1 or more servings per day.

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What did the study find?

The study found some important outcomes. (Photo via Pexels/Andrea Piacquadio)

The researchers found that participants who consumed at least one sugary drink a day were 1.75 times more likely to be diagnosed with liver cancer compared with women who consumed only three or fewer sweetened drinks per month.

As a result, it was also found that women who drank sugar-based drinks daily were 2.5 times more likely to die from chronic liver disease. However, women who consumed artificially sweetened beverages were not at an increased risk for death from chronic liver disease or liver cancer.

According to study authors Dr. Xuehong Zhang and Dr. Longgang Zhao, even after controlling the BMI of women, the findings remained largely unchanged. The study indicated that the link between sugar-sweetened beverage intake and liver health may exist with or without obesity. They explained to Medical News Today:

"Our results support positive associations between sugar-sweetened beverage and adverse liver outcomes among postmenopausal women. Replacing sugar-sweetened beverage with coffee or tea might lower risk of liver cancer and chronic liver disease mortality."

" We were not surprised by our findings. Intake of sugar-sweetened beverage, a postulated risk factor for obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease, may drive insulin resistance and inflammation which are strongly implicated in liver carcinogenesis and liver health. The findings from this large cohort, the Women’s Health Initiative, support our hypothesis.”

Dr. David A. Gerber, a surgeon and Chief of Abdominal Transplant Surgery at the UNC School of Medicine, commented on the findings. Dr. Gerber is not part of the study.

“My takeaway is that our diet plays a major role in our overall health, just most people don’t think about sugary intake and liver disease, they focus on obesity, diabetes, hypertension, etc. That is probably because we haven’t done a good job educating the public about the role of metabolic liver disease.”

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Limitations

There were several limitations to the study. (Photo via Pexels/ROMAN ODINTSOV)

While the findings suggested an important link between liver health and sugar-based drinks, they also shed light on a few critical limitations.

First of all, the study included only those women who were in the postmenopausal stage, which means the results cannot be generalized to all groups of women. Secondly, the study doesn’t prove that the intake of sugary drinks is the major cause of chronic liver diseases or liver cancer.

According to the authors, participants only answered a limited set of questions about artificially sweetened and sugar-sweetened beverages, and researchers were unable to get more details about the type of sweetener used. Moreover, the authors said that more research and studies are needed to validate the link and examine why sweetened drinks are more likely to increase the risk of liver disease and cancer.