The Truth Behind the Sugar-Cancer Connection


Many of my oncology patients ask me: Does sugar cause cancer?

The fact is sugar does not directly cause cancer or promote faster growth of cancer cells. However, eating excessive amount of added sugar can lead to weight gain which eventually increases the risk of obesity. Obesity promotes inflammation which damages DNA which in turn increases the risk of cancer.

The misunderstanding of sugar probably originated from the misinterpretation that cells that use more energy, including cancer cells, absorb more glucose-based radioactive tracer in positron emission tomography (PET) scans. Therefore, it was wrongly concluded that cancer cells grow faster when they were provided with sugar.

For this reason, many of my cancer patients are starving themselves from sugar and many of their favorite foods. In fact, a patient with cancer going through surgery, radiation, chemotherapy or stem cell transplant often requires additional calories just to maintain their weight.

In fact, all cells in your body, whether they are normal cells or cancer cells, need sugar for energy, especially your brain cells. Eating more sugar does not speed up the growth of cancer cells, and depriving yourself from sugar does not slow their growth.

The bottom line is that sugar does not directly cause cancer and eating a balanced diet that does not contain a lot of added sugar can help keep your weight down, which reduces your risk of developing cancer.

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