Sugar Intake and Breast Cancer Risk

I LOVE sugar. That is still quite an understatement, but - I suppose you get the point. But I am willing to give up my addiction to sugar :'(!! for the sake of health. With all the findings about sugar's effects on our health- be it an additional risk to breast cancer or one of the causes of Alzheimer's disease, it's quite a daunting thing. I think I'd rather sacrifice a few sweets than not be able to remember anyone or anything.

Here's an interesting article on the relationship of breast cancer and sugar intake:

Sugar Intake and Breast Cancer Risk Posted Wed, Oct 29, 2008, 10:03 am PDT
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For decades, people have been trying to determine if eating sugar causes cancer or feeds a cancer that is already there. A researcher named Dr. Michael Pollak at McGill University in Montreal summed it up well by saying, "Sugar does not directly cause cancer, but people should be careful about the amount of sugar they consume, because each person's individual body reacts differently to sugar."

Here's how scientists think this sugar-cancer relationship might work. When sugar or empty calories are rapidly absorbed into the bloodstream, blood sugar levels rise suddenly and the body responds by increasing its insulin production. Insulin regulates the amount of sugar in the blood by metabolizing it for use as energy or by storing it as fat.

If the body is overrun with sugar, it has trouble getting the glucose (blood sugar) into the cells where it can be transformed into energy. When the body is constantly dumping insulin into the bloodstream, but the sugar is not being removed from the blood stream, this process is called insulin resistance.

Research has now shown that when insulin levels are harmfully high at the time of a cancer diagnosis, the cancer is associated with a worse prognosis. This process, however, isn't as straightforward as it might sound because insulin also promotes the storage of fat, and we know that obesity itself can induce insulin resistance.

But we do know that people with a history of cancer have a greater incidence of borderline diabetes or overt diabetes than do those without such a history.

The bottom line is: Try to avoid eating processed sugar. Simple sugars aren't the best source of energy anyway. If you need to satisfy a craving for sweets, consider replacing a sugary dessert with a sweet fruit. This doesn't mean that you can never again have a dessert; just be selective. Your body will thank you for it in the long run.

Taken From: Yahoo News