Regular consumption of foods and drinks containing high-fructose corn syrup can significantly increase the risk of colorectal cancer.
Consuming foods rich in high-fructose corn syrup, a common food sweetener, is associated with two-fold increases in the risk of early-onset colorectal cancer (EO-CRC).
High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is a derivative of corn starch, processed to increase the levels of fructose, making it a cheaper and sweeter food ingredient than sucrose. HFCS is a common ingredient of sugar-sweetened beverages and food products, lime baked beans, breakfast cereals, bread, candy, barbeque sauce and other products.
Regular consumption of HFCS has been linked to a myriad of health problems, including obesity, diabetes and metabolic syndrome, colitis and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, among others.
Now, two new studies provide evidence linking regular intake of HFCS products with increased risk of colorectal cancer.
About the studies
One study, led by Dr Hee-Kyung Joh, from Seoul National University College of Medicine, found a linear incremental risk of 1.17 for all adenomas and 1.30 for high-risk adenomas, per each 5% of calories of total fructose intake. The study was based on data from 33,106 participants who provided dietary intake during adolescence. Participants reported their consumption of simple sugar (fructose, glucose, added sugar, total sugar) and sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB), which typically contain HFCS.
The authors concluded that “High intake of simple sugars and SSBs during adolescence was associated with increased risk of conventional adenoma, especially rectal adenoma.”
A second study, led by Dr Jinhee Hur, from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, in the USA, analysed data from 95,464 women who reported on their beverage consumption every 4 years.
The study found that, compared with consumption of less than one serving per week of sugar-sweetened beverages in adulthood, a higher intake was associated with a 2.2 times increased risk of early-onset colorectal cancer. Furthermore, the study found that each increment in the number of servings of SSB per day at age 13-18 years was associated with a 32% higher risk of EO-CRC.
But it is not all bad news. According to the authors, “Replacing each serving/day of adulthood SSB intake with that of artificially sweetened beverages, coffee, reduced fat milk or total milk was associated with a 17%-36% lower risk of EO-CRC.”
The take home message from these studies is that reducing the consumption of products containing HFCS, especially during adolescence and young adulthood, can significantly reduce the risk of developing colorectal cancer.