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# It's Not That Simple: Now, Soda, Lemonade, Sports Drinks Linked to Colon Cancer
- URL: https://bevnews.net/its-not-that-simple-now-soda-lemonade-sports-drinks-linked-to-colon-cancer/
- Published: 2026-09-21T18:24:28.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-21T18:24:28.000Z
- Author: Joel Whitaker
- Tags: Alcohol and Health

Here's a new cause for alarm: Those moms who for at least the last 40 years have given their kids fruit juice have been setting their kids up for colon cancer in later life. 

We don't necessarily believe it's so, but there have been a couple of news reports out there focusing on the role of sugar-sweetened beverages. The latest appeared in West Newsmagazine.

"Drinking one or more sugar-sweetened beverages like soda, lemonade and sports drinks every day could more than double your risk of stomach cancer over time," the magazine reported. Dr. Andrew Chan, a gastroenterologist and epidemiologist with Mass General Brigham Cancer Institute is quoted as saying: "This is the first study to demonstrate an association between sugar-sweetened beverage intake and gastric cancer in a U.S. population."

So, once again, another beverage is linked as being responsible for a nasty cancer. We wondered, why is this news to us? Why hasn't the World Health Organization sounded the alarm? 

WHO has advised avoiding sugar-sweetened beverages "to reduce the risk of unhealthy weight gain in adults." Its advisory breezed right past a mention of cancer to focus on weight gain. But its policy recommendations are much the same as for alcohol: limit availability ("remove vending machines") and increase taxes.

It turns out that reducing the risk of cancer isn't just as simple as increasing taxes on alcohol or limiting its accessibility. Even milk has been associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer, althpough it does reduce the risk of colorectal cancer. 

“The challenge with studies that look at food and cancer risk is that some foods, like dairy, may prevent certain cancers but might also increase risk of other cancers. Cancer is not one disease, so the risk factors for different cancers are very different,” said Suneel D. Kamath, MD, an [American Society of Clinical Oncology](https://www.asco.org/?ref=bevnews.net) (ASCO) expert and an oncologist at the Cleveland Clinic.

Imagine that – some foods or beverages, like milk or alcohol, may prevent or reduce the risk of some disease, such as coronary heart disease,but also increase the risk for some other diseases.