Brief
Daily sugary drinks linked to higher stomach cancer risk in large observational study
A decades-long study of more than 112,000 U.S. adults found that those who drank at least one sugar-sweetened beverage a day had roughly 2.45 times the risk of gastric cancer compared with those who rarely consumed them. The researchers stress the findings do not prove sugary beverages cause cancer.
The study followed more than 112,000 U.S. adults over decades and compared gastric cancer risk between daily sugary-drink consumers and those who rarely drank them. The reported association was roughly 2.45 times higher risk.
Artificially sweetened drinks showed no similar association, the researchers report.
Because this is an observational study, the results cannot establish cause and effect. The researchers themselves note that the findings do not prove sugary beverages cause cancer.
Our reading
Our reading is that this is a large observational study reporting an association rather than proof of causation, so it is a signal for further research rather than a settled risk factor.
What to do or watch
Treat this as an association to watch, not a proven cause: the study cannot rule out other factors that might explain why daily sugary-drink consumers had higher gastric cancer risk. The unresolved question is whether further research can separate the drinks themselves from the lifestyle and dietary patterns that tend to accompany them.
Source details and supporting facts
Each line is stated by the page named above it.
Stated by sciencedaily.com
- People who drank at least one sugar-sweetened beverage a day had roughly 2.45 times the risk of gastric cancer compared with those who rarely consumed them.
- The study was a decades-long study of more than 112,000 U.S. adults.
- Artificially sweetened drinks showed no similar association.
- Researchers stress that the findings do not prove sugary beverages cause cancer.
Sources
- ScienceDailyText stored 14 September 2026
How this story was checked. Written from the 1 page listed above, stored 14 September 2026; claims checked against that stored text on 14 September 2026.
What that means
- 4 of 4 reported statements were confirmed against the page that carries them; the rest were removed rather than published.
- Figures in the text were required to appear in the stored source text: yes. Identifiers: yes.
- The check reads stored text only: no claim rests on a fresh look that did not happen.
- Where the reporting was silent, the text says so instead of filling the gap.