A 30-year study of more than 112,000 U.S. adults links drinking at least one sugar-sweetened beverage every day to 2.45 times the risk of developing stomach cancer, compared with people who drink less than one serving a month. The analysis, published in the journal Gastro Hep Advances, is the first to surface this specific association in a U.S. population and adds gastric cancer to the growing list of diseases tied to daily sugary drink habits.
Researchers drew on decades of diet and health records from two long-running studies, the Nurses’ Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study. During follow-up periods that ran through 2021 and 2022, 278 participants developed gastric cancer. That pool of cases gave the team enough statistical power to compare drinking habits against actual diagnoses rather than rely on short-term recall.
What the numbers show
After adjusting for other risk factors, adults who reported at least one daily sugar-sweetened beverage had 2.45 times the risk of stomach cancer versus people who consumed less than one serving per month. Among women who drank more than one sugary beverage per day, the risk climbed to roughly three times higher. Higher total fructose intake, the main sweetener in these products, also tracked with higher stomach cancer rates, a signal that pointed at the sugar itself rather than at any single drink type.
Sugar-sweetened beverages in the study included carbonated soft drinks, punch, lemonade, and sports drinks. The last two are often perceived as harmless, but the analysis grouped them with soda because of their added sugar content. Artificially sweetened beverages did not show the same association with stomach cancer, though the researchers noted prior work has linked those products to a higher risk of liver cancer, a separate signal worth tracking.
How strong is the evidence?
Stomach cancer ranks as the fifth leading cause of cancer death worldwide, and infection with H. pylori bacteria is the usual suspect. The researchers checked whether sugary drink habits simply lined up with H. pylori infection, which would weaken the case for a direct link. Of the 940 participants with H. pylori data, slightly more than one-third tested positive, but sugary drink consumption did not track with infection rates. The cancer risk appeared to operate independently of this common stomach bacterium.
Observational studies can identify associations but cannot prove that one behavior caused another. The study population was predominantly white, which limits what can be said about racial and ethnic differences, and the number of cancer cases was modest. Family history data was limited, and the study did not track the exact amount of sugar in each drink, a detail dietitians often flag as material. Critics have also argued that cane sugar and high-fructose corn syrup should be studied separately, since the body processes them differently.
Despite those caveats, three decades of detailed dietary tracking make the signal hard to dismiss, and the work lines up with earlier research tying sugar-sweetened beverages to colorectal, breast, and liver cancers.
Practical swaps that cut the daily sugar load
The fastest way to act on these findings is to replace one daily sugary drink with a no-sugar alternative. Sparkling water with lemon or mint, unsweetened herbal iced tea, or plain water with a pinch of sea salt all deliver hydration without added fructose. Reading labels for hidden sugars, listed as cane sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, or fruit juice concentrate, helps identify products that look healthy but carry the same sugar load as soda.
Food choices also matter. Broccoli sprouts, garlic, cabbage, and fermented vegetables provide compounds that support stomach lining health, and they pair well with a lower-sugar drink habit. None of these changes require a special diet, and the cumulative effect of dropping one daily sugary drink is what the study actually measured.
What still needs confirmation
Larger and more diverse studies will need to confirm the pattern, especially in populations with higher baseline stomach cancer rates. Researchers also want to separate the effects of different sugar sources and track exact sugar quantities per drink. Until then, the finding sits in the same category as earlier work on colorectal, breast, and liver cancer: an association strong enough to inform daily choices, paired with a clear call for more research.
FAQ
How many sugary drinks per day raise stomach cancer risk?
The study found that drinking at least one sugar-sweetened beverage per day was linked to 2.45 times the risk of stomach cancer compared with drinking less than one serving per month. Women who drank more than one per day had roughly three times the risk.
Do diet drinks carry the same stomach cancer risk?
No. Artificially sweetened beverages did not show a similar association with stomach cancer in the study, though prior research has linked them to a higher risk of liver cancer, a separate condition.
Was the sugary drink and cancer link caused by H. pylori infection?
No. In the 940 participants who had H. pylori data, sugary drink intake did not correlate with infection rates, and the higher cancer risk appeared to act independently of the bacterium.
