Korean Study Ties Frequent Sugary Foods to 28% Higher Breast Cancer Risk

Your favourite sweet treats might carry a hidden price. A prospective Korean study followed 71,264 women from the Korean Health Examinees cohort, recruited at ages 40 to 69, for an average of 9.2 years. During that time 713 women developed breast cancer, giving researchers enough data to compare eating habits.

Women who ate high-sugar foods more than twice a week had about 28 percent higher breast cancer risk than those eating them once a month or less. Ice cream and sugary cereals were most associated with risk, though the ice cream result was borderline and sugary cereal intake was low. Total sugar and fruit intake showed no significant link.

Important caveats apply. Diet was assessed only once at baseline, natural and added sugars were not separated, and there was no data on cancer subtype, stage or menopausal status. The observational design cannot establish causation, so this is a reason to moderate sweets, not to panic or cut out fruit.