There are been so many myths about sugar it is hard to know what’s true and what isn’t. Yes, sugar is addictive. It stokes the feel-good hormone, serotonin, in our brain and encourages us to re-up our intake every few hours giving us the rollercoaster highs and lows of blood sugar levels that impact mood and energy. Sugar can also cause inflammation and other problems (your skin for example) but it does not feed cancer as some believe.
From the NYTImes The “sugar feeds cancer” narrative goes back to the 1920s, when a German physiologist noticed that some tumor cells consumed more glucose than healthy cells did. Soon after, low-sugar diets sprang up claiming to cure cancer. Recent polls from the United States and Europe suggest about a third of cancer patients actively avoid sugar.
While experts say that diets high in added sugars may increase your risk of cancer over a lifetime, cutting out all sugars doesn’t actually fight existing tumors.
“Every cell requires glucose, our brain requires glucose,” said Philipp Scherer, a diabetes researcher at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.
A possible link to cancer. A W.H.O. agency has classified aspartame, an artificial sweetener widely used in diet drinks and low-calorie foods, as possibly carcinogenic to humans. It is the first time the prominent body has weighed in publicly on the effects on aspartame, which has been a contentious ingredient for decades. Here is what to know:
How much aspartame is too much? Despite the announcement raising the alarm on aspartame, a second W.H.O. agency said that people can still safely consume the artificial sweetener in moderate amounts. It is safe to consume up to 40 milligrams of aspartame per kilogram of body weight per day (equivalent to more than a dozen cans of diet soda for a 150-pound person by some estimates), according to the W.H.O.
Sugar isn’t a carcinogen, Dr. Scherer said. There’s no evidence showing that eating sugar will cause cancer itself (like, say, smoking cigarettes would). Besides, Dr. Scherer added, “many, many cancers prefer to use fat as their primary energy source, so even the idea that cancers prefer glucose isn’t quite true.”
Still, a limited yet growing body of evidence has linked the overconsumption of added sugars (the kind found in cookies, cakes and soft drinks) to cancer. For example, a large review of studies published in 2018 cited several that linked added sugar and sugary beverage consumption to an increase in cancer risk.
Excess sugar consumption has been shown to spark chronic inflammation in some people, which can damage cells that may then become cancerous, Ms. Shawhan said. Overconsumption of added sugars has also been shown to lower immunity, which can allow cancer cells to more easily spread. And consuming excess sugar can alter metabolism in ways that may lead to obesity and diabetes, conditions known to increase the odds of getting cancer.
Once you’re diagnosed with cancer, eliminating sugar doesn’t seem to slow or halt cancer growth in most cases, Ms. Shawhan said. “By this point, it is not sugar intake that is driving cancer growth, but the cancer itself.”
Additionally, sugar is essential for most living things, Dr. Scherer said. And when it occurs naturally in foods like dairy products, fruits and vegetables, it’s part of a healthy diet, said Natalie Ledesma, an oncology dietitian at the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center.
For the most part, experts agree that there’s no need to abstain from sugars that appear in whole foods. But Ms. Ledesma notes that consuming excess added sugar has been associated with worse outcomes — including higher mortality rates — in patients with certain solid tumors like breast, colon and prostate cancers. Other cancers may also be impacted, she said, but research on rarer cancer types has been limited.
It’s also important that cancer patients manage their diets without becoming afraid of food, said Dr. Santosh Rao, an integrative oncologist at University Hospitals Connor Whole Health in Cleveland. Up to half experience muscle loss as a result of their disease. And sometimes things that doctors recommend for patients during rounds of grueling treatments — like Ensure, electrolyte drinks or even potatoes — can contain a lot of sugars, Ms. Shawhan said.
While all people should avoid diets high in added sugars, cancer patients with certain metabolic diseases should be especially vigilant because those diseases can affect their prognosis.
“Patients with poorly controlled diabetes tend to have more aggressive breast cancer,” for example, said Dr. Rao. And a meta-analysis suggested obese patients were more likely to die from colon, breast and uterine cancers.
The best way to lower your cancer risk, and to eat if you have a cancer diagnosis, is to follow a healthy diet that has plenty of whole fruits and vegetables. Mediterranean diets meet these goals and help reduce cancer risk, some studies show. Pairing carbohydrates with protein, fiber and fat (a dab of peanut butter on an apple slice, for example) prevents spikes in glucose that can, over time, wreak havoc on our metabolism and increase cancer risk.
Generally speaking, Ms. Shawhan said, it’s OK to indulge in a little added sugar, even on a daily basis, as long as you’re getting essential nutrients from the rest of your diet. She recommends staying within the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s suggestion of twelve teaspoons of added sugar a day — or better yet, follow the World Health Organization’s guidance of six teaspoons.
Research on sugar substitutes and their influence on cancer and cancer risk is inconclusive. Experts suggest avoiding them until we learn more. Ms. Ledesma prefers, instead, to sweeten her recipes with naturally sweet foods like bananas, frozen berries and applesauce, which frequently feature in her non-dairy ice creams.
“Cinnamon or ginger offer a sweetness with no added calories or sugar,” said Ms. Ledesma.
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