Popular daily drinking habit could nearly triple risk of deadly cancer, major study finds

Consuming a sugary drink a day may significantly raise the risk of developing stomach cancer , according to new research from Mass General Brigham.

After accounting for other risk factors, the researchers found that one or more sugary drinks per day was linked to nearly triple the risk of gastric cancer compared with fewer than one serving per month.

Roughly two-thirds (63%) of U.S. adults report consuming sugar-sweetened beverages at least once a day, CDC data states.

BEER, WINE OR LIQUOR? MASSIVE STUDY REVEALS WHICH WAS LINKED TO LOWER DEATH RISK While earlier studies linked sugary drinks to higher rates of liver, breast and colorectal malignancies, their specific impact on gastric tissue remained unclear until now.

The new study analyzed data from more than 100,000 participants in the Nurses' Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-Up Study.

The long-term prospective cohort studies, which were managed by Harvard-affiliated researchers, analyzed links between lifestyle, diet and chronic disease among healthcare workers .

DIRTY SODA DRINKS ARE EVERYWHERE, BUT DOCTORS WARN OF HEALTH RISKS: 'METABOLIC DISASTER' "It's definitely a concern because we are seeing an increase in cancers of the gastrointestinal tract, particularly in young people [under] 50," senior author Andrew T.

Chan, a gastroenterologist and epidemiologist with the Mass General Brigham Cancer Institute in Boston, told Fox News Digital.

"Our increasing consumption of sugary drinks and also ultra-processed foods is likely to be contributing to some of these cancer trends," he added.

TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZ Gastric cancer is heavily linked to Helicobacter pylori bacteria , a type of bacteria that lives in the stomach lining.

In a subset of study participants, there was no connection found between sugary drink intake and H. pylori, strengthening the hypothesis that sugar (fructose) plays a role.

The researchers defined sugar-sweetened drinks as regular sodas, fruit punches, lemonade and sports beverages, in which fructose is the main sweetener.

Higher fructose consumption was associated with greater stomach cancer risk.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE HEALTH STORIES Artificially sweetened drinks, including diet sodas and other low-calorie carbonated drinks, were not linked to an increased risk of gastric cancer among more than 100,000 subjects.