Sugar is a staple of the Filipino diet.
We have it with our coffee for breakfast, or in any of the powdered juices on offer.
The Filipino merienda is usually on the sweeter side, with sodas, bread, cakes, or cookies on the table.
And for a population fed on rice—which is carbohydrates turned to glucose by the body—the question “Does sugar cause cancer?” quickly becomes a very important one.
Especially when we learn that a 12-ounce can of your favorite soda has 39 grams of added sugar.
That’s the equivalent of about 10 teaspoons. (It also happens to be the daily maximum added sugar intake recommended by the World Health Organization.)
So, in this post, we find out if there’s indeed any truth to the buzz about sugar causing the “Big C.”
Here’s the answer…
According to the latest research and the leading medical institutions in the United States, U.K., and Australia: There is no evidence to make the conclusion that sugar causes cancer.
This is a direct quote from the American Society of Clinical Oncology: “No studies in people have shown that reducing sugar intake prevents or treats cancer. Furthermore, no studies have shown that eating too much sugar causes cancer. In other words, there is not a direct link between sugar and cancer.”
There is also no evidence that depriving cancer cells of sugar slows their growth.
There’s no evidence that cutting carbs from the diet will help treat cancer.
So where did this myth come from? Surely there must be some basis for it.
Well, it starts with what we call the “Warburg Effect.” It’s the observation that cancer cells use up glucose faster than normal cells. (This has been noted in the 1920s by the German physiologist Otto Warburg.)
Because cancer cells, by their very nature, are rapidly dividing cells, they have higher energy demands than normal cells.
Today, when doctors want to find cancer cells in the body or check if a treatment is working, they would inject radioactive glucose into the bloodstream. The radioactive glucose would gravitate toward cancerous cells and light up in a PET (Positron Emission Tomography) scan, showing the exact location of cancer cells and tumors in the body.
Glucose is used by cancer cells for energy.
So people began to think: Seems like sugar (glucose) feeds those cancer cells!
If we starve the cancer cells of sugar, it could control the growth of these cells. And by cutting sugar from our diet, we are cutting the energy supply for these cells!
Yes, that’s true, glucose feeds the cancer cells...but it also feeds every other cell in the human body. That is its function. It does not discriminate between cancer cells or not.
So, as already mentioned earlier, there is no direct link between sugar and cancer.
For example, a study found no link between soft drink consumption and esophageal cancer. Another study, done by the National Cancer Institute found no link between dietary sugars and cancers of any kind.
But hold off from scarfing down ice cream, donuts, and pizza just yet. Because while it has been established that sugar is not carcinogenic, there is an indirect link between sugar and cancer.
The Indirect Link Between Sugar and Cancer
A diet high in sugar has a host of negative impacts on the body.
For one, it increases the risk of Type 2 diabetes which, over time, damages blood vessels and body organs, and leads to complications like heart and kidney diseases.
It also causes more inflammations in the body which can complicate cardiovascular and autoimmune conditions.
But more insidiously, a diet high in sugar can cause one’s weight to increase. This might sound normal or harmless, but unchecked, continued weight increases soon give rise to obesity.
This is the indirect link:
Obesity is the indirect link between sugar and cancer.
Because obesity is a well-established risk factor for cancer.
According to the CDC, more than 684,000 obesity-related cancers occur in the U.S. each year.
According to the American Cancer Society, obesity is responsible for 11% of cancers in women and 5% of cancers in men.
These figures don’t bode well for our country because, as one article puts it, “The Philippines is getting fat.”
According to the survey of our Department of Science and Technology’s Food and Nutrition Research Institute, 27 million Filipinos are overweight and obese. This is a doubling of figures in a span of just 2 decades. What’s even more alarming is that the number of overweight and obese adolescents is doubling at a faster rate.
The increasing number of overweight and obese Filipinos could be the precedent for a rising number of cancer cases. Obesity is linked to some 13 types of cancer, including cancer of the breast, colon, kidney, liver, pancreas, thyroid, and ovaries.
But cancer is just one of the litany of health issues obesity comes with. It is also linked to diseases like:
high blood pressure
heart disease
stroke
gout
diabetes
osteoarthritis
breathing problems
If sugar consumption is closely linked to obesity, there is a very compelling case for people to relax on sweets. So what are some practical ways one can reduce sugar intake?
Here are some things you can do…
How To Decrease Sugar Consumption
#1 Limit carbs
Carbohydrates and other macronutrients are broken down into sugars by the body, giving you a sugar spike after a meal. By lowering the carbs in your diet (and the total food intake), you consequently lower the amount of sugar in the blood.
We’re not saying you totally block all carbs, just limit it. This includes bread, cake, pasta, pizza, corn, and potato. Replacing them with protein-rich foods like meat, poultry, fish, and eggs would ensure your body still has its energy requirements met.
#2 Eat more fruits and vegetables
They contain plenty of nutrients and fibers that your body needs. Although they carry a decent amount of sugar, these are naturally-occurring ones and are not as densely packed as those in candies and sweets. Eating them causes a lower sugar spike.
#3 Avoid processed foods, sugary drinks, desserts, and snacks.
Processed foods often contain loads and loads of sugar. This is “added sugar” as opposed to naturally-occurring ones from fresh fruits.
Food manufacturers add plenty of sugar to their products. And they have good reasons for doing so. Sweetness improves the taste of many types of food, attracting a younger demographic. It doesn’t only enhance taste, it can also help preserve the product and allow it to stay longer on the shelves. And sometimes, sugar is used to coat or lessen some unwanted flavor profiles like bitterness, for example.
If a food is processed, it will most likely contain a type of sugar.
#4 Snack wisely and practice portion control.
If your goal is not only to watch the sugar that goes into your body but also to keep those pounds off, you need to watch not just the sugar but also the amount of food you generally consume.
Besides snacking on fruits and nuts instead of donuts and pastries, you have to eat a fraction of what you usually have. This might be tough at first, but once you keep at it, your body would quickly adjust to a new normal.
Eating slower and chewing your food properly has far-reaching benefits other than good digestion. By eating properly and not inhaling your food, you savor more of the flavor. As a result, you won’t need as much of it to enjoy.
By keeping watch and being conscious of what you put into your body, you avoid not just conditions like cancer, obesity, or diabetes. You become a healthier individual able to get the most out of life.
BloodWorks Lab is your partner in health and well-being. If you or any member of the family want to check the status of their health, we offer check-up packages that are tailored to your specific needs. In addition to looking at your blood sugar levels and lipid profile, we have a wide array of medical screenings and blood tests.
As a premium testing facility, BloodWorks Labs was the first in the country to introduce the Anti Acetylcholine Receptor (lgG) Antibody Test and the Anti N-Methyl-D-Aspartate Receptor (Anti NMDA Receptor) Antibody Test.
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