Unknown cancer risk: study warns of high fructose content in the drinks with Corn syrup

How does a regular consumer of sugar and Corn syrup to cancer?

The results of a recent study show that the absorbed sugar can apparently promote directly the growth of cancer. The daily consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages seems to increase the growth of colorectal tumors.

An investigation by the Baylor College of Medicine found that even small amounts of Corn syrup or the consumption of sugary drinks promotes the growth of intestinal tumors in mice. The results of the study were published in the English journal “Science”.

Already in 0.35 liters of soda per day can increase the risk for colorectal cancer

If mice participated in the study, daily modest amounts of Corn syrup with high fructose content, is the Equivalent of people who drink about twelve ounces (0.35 Liter) of a sugar-sweetened beverage, and this led to the growth of intestinal tumors was accelerated in mouse models, independent of the existing obesity. The research team discovered during the study, the mechanism by which the consumption of sugary beverages the growth of cancer can directly promote, what are the possible new therapeutic strategies.

Obesity increases the risk for many types of cancer

A growing number of observational studies has raised awareness of the connection between the consumption of sugary beverages, obesity and risk of colorectal cancer. The current idea is that sugar is mainly harmful for our health because the consumption of too much sugar can lead to obesity. It is known that obesity increases the risk for many types of cancer (including colorectal cancer). It was unclear, however, whether there is a direct and causal relationship.

In mice, the APC has a Gene removed

Initially, the researchers produced a mouse model for intestinal cancer in the early stage, in which the APC Gene has been removed. The APC Gene is important for the formation of a colorectal carcinoma. The Removal of this Protein did not lead to the normal intestinal cells stop growing and die. Thus, tumors are formed in the early stage, which are referred to as polyps. More than 90 percent of patients with colorectal cancer have this type of APC Mutation.

Corn syrup is the main sweetener in sugar-containing drinks is

The sweetened water to 25 percent of the fruit sugar in the Form of Corn syrup, the main sweetener of the sugar-containing beverages, which are consumed by people. Corn syrup with a high fructose content consists of glucose and fructose in a ratio of 45:55. When the researchers the sugar-containing beverage in a water bottle so that the mice with a modified APC Gene were able to drink freely, the animals within one month of weight very quickly. In order to simulate the daily consumption of a can of soda without weight gain in humans, gave the researchers the mice instead, once a day, moderately of sugar water with a special syringe.

Mice developed already after two months of larger tumors

After two months, the mice were Gene with a modifizerten APC, the sugar-containing water received, not obese, but developed tumors, which were larger and of higher grade than tumours in mice which took only normal water. These results suggest that, if the animals are in the early stage of the development of tumors in the intestine, moderate amounts of Corn syrup with a high fruit sugar content promote in liquid Form, the growth of the tumour, regardless of whether obesity is present or not.

Further research is required

To be able to this discovery to humans, but more research is required. The results of the animal models suggest, however, that the regular consumption of sugary drinks can shorten the development time of cancer. In humans, it usually takes 20 to 30 years to developed to be bowel cancer from benign tumors in the early stage of aggressive cancer types. This observation in animal models could explain why the increased consumption of sweet drinks and other foods with a high sugar content in the course of the last 30 years of illness with an increase in colorectal cancer in 25 – to 50-Year-olds in the United States is correlated.

Why increases of the sugar, the risk for cancer?

The Team then investigated the mechanism by which sugar promotes the growth of the tumour. They discovered that the mice with a mutated APC Gene, the Corn syrup, high fructose proportion received large amounts of fructose in the colon. Sugary drinks increase the fructose -, and glucose values in the large intestine and in the blood. Tumors to be able to absorb the fructose and glucose in different ways efficiently. First, the ingested fructose was chemically modified. This made it possible to promote the production of fatty acids efficiently, which ultimately contributes to tumor growth, explain the researchers. Most of the previous studies used either glucose or fructose. The researchers were of the opinion that this approach does not reflect the actual consumption of sugar-containing drinks, since neither drinks nor food containing only glucose or fructose. The results suggest that the role of the fructose exists for tumors to increase the glucose function in the control of fatty acid synthesis. (as)