Sucrose and cancer growth
The subject of 𝐬𝐮𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐝 is of major importance, and has again been the 𝐭𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐜 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 by the French National Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health Safety. Carbohydrates include sugars, such as glucose and fructose, and starches. Fructose is 𝐰𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞, particularly in fruit. It is widely used by the American industry because of its 𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐭. However, a recent study published in 𝑁𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 found a link between a fructose-rich diet and an 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐮𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐬 in animals.
The researchers observed that fructose had 𝐧𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 on cancer cells. However, in rodents, a high-fructose diet causes the liver to 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐢𝐝𝐬, which then enter the bloodstream. This type of lipid, 𝐥𝐲𝐬𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐝𝐲𝐥 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞, then proved to be a very good 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐮𝐦𝐨𝐫 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡 in rodents. The link between fructose and tumour growth 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭.
These results could help explain the role of obesity 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐤 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 for certain cancers, and the increase in the 𝐧𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞, particularly in the USA, especially with the widespread use of corn syrup.