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Written By: Editorial Team | Published : August 5, 2018 11:26 AM IST
An US-based study suggests that colon cancer patients who drink one or more servings of artificially-sweetened beverages a day have roughly half the risk of their cancer recurring compared to those who drink few or none of these beverages. The study was published in the journal PLoS ONE. However, the research wasn't designed to prove whether or how drinking these beverages lowers the risk of colon cancer returning.
According to the research, one reason might be that patients who consume artificially-sweetened drinks are substituting them for sugar-sweetened sodas and juices and therefore taking in less sugar.
Senior author Dr. Charles Fuchs, director of the Yale Cancer Center in New Haven, Connecticut said,"We've been studying the role of post-diagnosis diet and lifestyle on the risk of colon cancer, and a variety of factors are associated with recurrence."
According to the Business Standard report, Fuchs noted that about 30 per cent of colon cancer patients who undergo surgery will have a recurrence.
He also said, "We suggest water as the healthiest option, but if you have a sweet tooth and want a sweet beverage, artificially-sweetened drinks may be an alternative."
The researchers analysed dietary information for 1,018 patients with stage III colon cancer who were enrolled in a National Cancer Institute-sponsored trial of adjuvant chemotherapy. During the follow-up, 348 of the 1,018 patients had colon cancer recurrence. Frequent drinkers of artificially-sweetened beverages tended to be younger, have a higher body mass index and greater caloric intake.
They also found that the patients who drank one or more artificially-sweetened drinks per day had a 46 per cent lower risk of cancer recurrence than those who drank no more than one of these drinks per week.
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