Does sugar increase the risk of cancer?

According to the Central Cancer Hospital, through actual treatment, oncologists and nutritionists often receive concerns from cancer patients about the use of sugar in foods such as: Is sugar bad for the immune system? Does sugar feed cancer cells? Should cancer patients avoid using sugar?...

Sharing the above concerns, the doctor of K Hospital said: "Eating sugar is not good for the immune system is a misunderstanding". Under normal conditions, when the body uses sugar, it will not increase blood sugar because the body secretes insulin to regulate blood sugar levels, so it does not harm the immune system. Both normal cells and cancer cells use sugar as an energy source. A healthy diet is one that uses natural sugar sources found in fruits and whole grains.

According to the Central Cancer Hospital, sugar is a nutrient needed by every cell in the body. The body's energy needs are mainly derived from carbohydrates (about 60 - 70%). Therefore, to maintain the body's life, patients still need to use carbohydrates in their diet. Sugar consumption is not a direct cause of cancer. However, consuming more than the need for sugar will lead to an increased risk of being overweight and obese (this risk increases by 1.55 times). And being overweight and obese is the main cause of a 2 - 4 times increase in the rate of cancer.

Therefore, do not eliminate sugar from your daily diet, but do not consume more than the body's sugar needs, and combine it with exercise to reduce the risk of overweight and obesity, thereby reducing the risk of cancer.

Dr. Hoang Phan Quynh Trang (Department of Chemotherapy and Blood Diseases, Cancer Institute, 108 Central Military Hospital) shared more: The type of sugar that most of us are familiar with is table sugar, a simple sugar that dissolves in water and gives everything a sweet taste (its proper name is sucrose, made up of glucose and fructose crystals). Table sugar is refined, extracted from natural sources (sugarcane, sugar beets, etc.). Unprocessed foods can also contain a lot of simple sugars, for example honey.

All of our healthy cells need glucose, and there is no way to tell our bodies to give healthy cells the glucose they need but not cancer cells. There is no evidence that following a “no sugar” diet reduces your risk of getting cancer or increases your chances of survival if you are diagnosed with the disease.

Sugar itself does not cause cancer, and there is currently no way to starve cancer cells of glucose (sugar) without harming healthy cells. Therefore, for cancer patients, providing adequate nutrition is important to help their bodies stay strong during treatment.

“We should all eat plenty of fruit, vegetables, whole grains and legumes as these nutritious foods are also high in fibre. This not only helps your body digest natural sugars more slowly, helping you maintain a healthy weight, but also reduces your risk of bowel cancer,” notes Dr Trang.

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