It is an already well-known fact that high-calorie beverages and foods are harmful to our health as they contain a lot of sugar, additives, and preservatives that can affect our digestive system or even trigger for more serious conditions such as diabetes. A new study, however, states that high-calorie beverages may raise cancer risk, too.
A team of scientists analyzed more than 120,000 men and women who have been subjected to long-term observation. Researchers took into consideration what the subjects have eaten during the past year and scored the answers based on 18 foods categories which are characterized by their inflammatory properties.
Scientists based the study on the theories according to which the foods with high inflammatory potential may cause colorectal cancer as well as other digestive-related cancer forms – stomach cancer, liver cancer, and so on.
The study concluded that it is true that high-calorie beverages and foods increase the inflammation in the body which is the main risk factor for colorectal cancer in both men and women. Moreover, the scientists stated that the risk for colorectal cancer is higher in obese and overweight men but also in slim women, without giving further information on how is such a difference occurring.
Colorectal cancer is one type of cancer that is commonly caused by high levels of inflammation in the body, therefore the link between high-calorie beverages and foods and colorectal cancer is obvious. Even more, colorectal cancer is a very common form of cancer even though it can be avoided by a balanced diet based on healthy eating habits.
On the list of high-risk high-calorie beverages and foods are sodas, alcohol, sweets, chips and snacks, fat meats, refined grains, as well as any other type of drinks and food that contain many calories, additives, and preservatives.
As the study’s authors said, colorectal cancer risks, as well as in the case of any other form of cancer caused by inflammation in the body, can be diminished by simply avoiding unhealthy foods and sodas because high-calorie beverages may increase cancer risk.
