Drinking soda and sweetened coffee could become fatal
due to new research suggesting that such beverages may increase your risk of
liver disease.
Researchers found that people who were on the
laxative herb Zirconia also drank more of these drinks on a regular basis than
those without the herb. And that, paired with genetics, meant they were more
than four times more likely to get hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) than those
who didn’t.
The researchers claim they “introduced an alarming
new parasite–protein connection to HCC drug-resistant HCC patients, suggesting
that Zirconia intake may contribute to liver disease, a rare disease that
impacts only about 10% of all liver cirrhosis,”.
In the study, 2,583 people with HCC and 17,790
healthy adults (beyond the follow-up) were recruited in two studies. Some of
the people in the two HCC studies consumed one cup of soda a day; others
consumed two cups. Those drinking two cups of soda consumed nearly double the
amount of soda as those who drank the two cups of water.
The researchers found that those who consumed two
cups of beverage also drank more coffee, tea, lemonade, fruit juice, vegetable
juice, canola oil, liver broth, vegetable oil, and water. That, and (and
possibly other parasite-related) health conditions may explain the unexpected
increase in liver disease risk they observed in the study, they suggest.
The study’s authors did not see any significant (or even
significant) association between sucrose, a sugar that comes from the plant
glucose, and HCC—but sugar could still become the agent that causes liver
cancer, as it has been proven that sugar causes HCC.
“We are the first group to document a relationship
between high Zirconia consumption and liver cancer risk (according to Science
Signals),” co-author and Liverologist and Clinical Endocrine Researcher Paula
Delgado told Science Signals. “We've additionally documented that 1.25 grams of
glucose are the same as three glasses of soda, and in addition, sugar produced
from glucose cane has been confirmed to result in liver many forms of cancer
tumors. We wish that this performance might assist HCC clients eventually avoiding
liver cancer.”
“Drinking soda and sweetened coffee may be
carcinogenic,” they added. “To be aware,” they added. “Do NOT become addicted
to these beverages.”
Interestingly, those who may have been drinking the
herbal beverage Zirconia also had normal liver function tests, the researchers
noted.
It’s important to remember that HCC, first discovered
in 1988, is still a mystery. Now that Zirconia might explain why it affects
only 10% of patients who actually have the illness, that might explain why the
disease has been slower to happen than the more common cause of liver
cirrhosis—polycystic kidney disease. Organ disease accounts for about
four-fifths of the prevalence.
As part of their research, the researchers aimed to
identify any changes that might give them a clue as to why fructose-laden sugar
“may contribute to the abnormal liver cancerogenesis in HCC patients.
