Sugary drinks linked to higher stomach cancer risk — 5ch: “This is literally the devil’s drink”

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The story

A U.S. study drawing on data from more than 110,000 people has found that people who drink sugary beverages every day face a higher risk of developing stomach cancer. On 5ch’s Science News+ board, this sparked debate — some pointed out that people who drink sugary drinks daily probably just have messier diets overall, while others argued over whether artificial sweeteners are really any safer and whether fructose is truly bad for you.

Sugary drinks linked to rising stomach cancer risk: U.S. research team studies over 110,000 people

New research warns that people who drink sugary beverages every day face a higher risk of developing stomach cancer.

At the same time, the study suggests artificial sweeteners may lower that risk.

Background and key points of debate

The leading cause of stomach cancer is H. pylori infection, which is why infection rates — and stomach cancer rates — are notably high in Japan and elsewhere in Asia, whereas the U.S., where infection rates are naturally low, sees relatively few cases of the disease to begin with. This study shows a correlation between sugary drink consumption and cancer incidence using a large dataset of over 110,000 people, and it also touches on comparisons with artificial sweeteners — but as with any such study, it’s worth noting this is observational research, not proof that the drinks directly cause cancer.

In the thread, opinions split between those flagging a likely confounding factor — that people who regularly drink sugary beverages may simply have worse diets overall — and those debating whether swapping sugar for artificial sweeteners actually makes things safer. That second point isn’t so simple: some artificial sweeteners, like aspartame, have been classified by the WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer as “possibly carcinogenic,” raising separate concerns of their own, so swapping one for the other isn’t necessarily a free pass.

Also, the comment claiming “Americans barely have H. pylori carriers, so there are almost no stomach cancer patients” is really describing a relatively low number, not zero cases. And it’s worth keeping in mind — something the thread doesn’t really get into — that an elevated risk is a population-level statistical trend, not a guarantee that any individual who drinks these beverages will develop cancer.

Source: app.ekkow.com / original article here

What people said

2AnonymousAug 27, 2026 21:11
People who are always drinking Starbucks or Gong Cha are probably pretty high risk.
3AnonymousAug 27, 2026 21:17
Re: #2
Wouldn't that be more like Coke?
4AnonymousAug 27, 2026 21:44
Most stomach cancer is caused by H. pylori, but I guess sugary drinks are one of the other causes.
They're also linked to diabetes, heart attacks, stroke, high blood pressure, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and chronic kidney disease.
Truly the devil's drink.
Do not drink this stuff.
5AnonymousAug 27, 2026 21:51
This only means something if you compare people whose diets are otherwise identical, with the sole difference being whether they drink fructose drinks.

There's basically nobody who skips fructose drinks but still eats like it's a junk food festival otherwise.

Same as how there's basically nobody who drinks fructose drinks but otherwise eats a totally healthy diet.
6AnonymousAug 27, 2026 21:57
So artificial sweeteners are better than sugar, huh.
18AnonymousAug 28, 2026 07:13
Re: #6
You shouldn't put it that way. What this actually says is that, statistically, artificial sweeteners might lower cancer risk compared to sugary drinks — as for other health effects, who knows.
7AnonymousAug 27, 2026 21:58
Dissolving sugar into a drink and drinking it apparently makes you more likely to die early.
For cookies and cake, water or hot water is the way to go, apparently.
Or so they say.

Going forward, the style is drinking your dinner alcohol with the sugar left out too.
8AnonymousAug 27, 2026 23:33
Wait, really?! I heard Americans barely have any H. pylori carriers, so there's almost no stomach cancer there — is that not true?
15AnonymousAug 28, 2026 06:44
Re: #8
I think it means the "almost none" just doubled. Even doubled, it's still rare.
10AnonymousAug 28, 2026 00:41
People who drink sweet drinks every day

are basically junk food lovers.

Guzzle garbage oils → your cells' fat turns to garbage
Guzzle additives → cell damage piles up
Guzzle antibacterial ingredients → your gut bacteria get wiped out


The brain gets fooled,
but the body doesn't — it keeps screaming "more, more! give me real oils, fiber, polyphenols!"

Brain: "OK!" → gets tricked by junk food and keeps eating it forever
Stomach and gut: overloaded and dead
11AnonymousAug 28, 2026 04:00
Is it the sweet drink itself (the liquid) that's the problem?
Would something solid like cake or cookies be less bad?
12AnonymousAug 28, 2026 04:13
I think basically all processed food out there
is way too sweet.
13AnonymousAug 28, 2026 04:31
But honestly, people who drink sugary drinks every day
probably don't care at all about getting cancer.
14AnonymousAug 28, 2026 04:35
Re: #13

That's exactly the problem.

Basically, companies sell stuff cheap now and don't care if it wrecks your body ten years down the line. Make the money now, and when something goes wrong, push the responsibility onto whoever bought it — and onto society, via health insurance.

And if consumers don't use their judgment, companies like that just keep raking it in and get even more entrenched. But the ugly part is that the cost still falls on everyone else in the end, since it's society — through health insurance — that ends up footing the bill.
16AnonymousAug 28, 2026 06:51
That lactic-acid drink, Ya◯ul◯ (i.e. Yakult, name censored)
is ridiculously sickly sweet, isn't it.
17AnonymousAug 28, 2026 07:03
Vegetable juice is basically just juice, so you're better off not drinking it.
19AnonymousAug 28, 2026 07:21
Ever since hitting middle age, I basically only drink tea or water now.
23AnonymousAug 28, 2026 10:02
That fructose is bad for you is pretty much settled at this point.
The "fructose is bad" camp says artificial sweeteners are claimed to be bad too, but no significant difference has actually been shown.
The "artificial sweeteners are bad" camp somehow just skips right past the fructose issue — or runs with the theory that artificial sweeteners are even worse.
25AnonymousAug 28, 2026 10:36
Forget vegetable juice — even 100% fruit juice is bad for you from too much fructose.
26AnonymousAug 28, 2026 10:38
Re: #25
Then go ahead and drink as much sugar as you like.
29AnonymousAug 28, 2026 10:44
Re: #25
Tomato juice is fine though.
The no-salt kind, that is.
30AnonymousAug 28, 2026 10:44
Re: #28
Then go ahead and lick as much sugar as you like! Go on!
31AnonymousAug 28, 2026 10:46
Blood sugar spikes happen when you drink something sweet and absorb the sugar all at once.
Biting into whole fruit is fine, but turning it into juice is bad news.
ttps://diamond.jp/articles/-/375584
32AnonymousAug 28, 2026 10:48
Re: #31
According to that link, fruit is basically poison.
33AnonymousAug 28, 2026 10:53
Re: #32
Anything turns into poison or medicine depending on whether you get the dose wrong.
34AnonymousAug 28, 2026 10:58
That's why, unless you're having a ton of it, fructose is actually a "good" sugar that doesn't spike your blood sugar.
35AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:02
Re: #34
The point is that juice packs in the equivalent of several pieces of fruit and you take it all in at once — that's what makes it dangerous. If you're just biting into the fruit, there's no way you could consume that much that fast.
37AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:03
Re: #34
Right, fructose itself doesn't spike your blood sugar, but the high-fructose corn syrup in bottled juice sends your blood sugar through the roof.
Devil's drink.
38AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:05
Maybe it's just feeding the H. pylori?
42AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:18
Can't wait to see where the "guilty soda" fans are in five years.
44AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:20
Re: #42
You mean "nope" (the soda brand)? It's cheap so I've been buying it like crazy lol

Doubt it'll even still be on shelves in 5 years.
50AnonymousAug 28, 2026 11:37
Re: #45
Steve Jobs, a vegetarian who ate a lot of fruit, died young of pancreatic cancer.
59AnonymousAug 28, 2026 12:02
Re: #50
Jobs was really into fruit juice, so that actually fits the theory that whole fruit is fine but fruit juice is the dangerous part.

Also he was a picky eater who ate the same things over and over, so his nutrient balance was a mess on top of that — worst combination.

And digging around a bit, apparently he was also exposed to chemicals and lead earlier in life.

*This article is compiled as an excerpt/summary of the 5ch (Science News+) thread “[Health] Sugary drinks linked to higher stomach cancer risk: U.S. research team studies over 110,000 people.”

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