Sugar-sweetened beverages significantly increase a women's risk of developing cancer, Fox news reported.
In a recent study, researchers found that post-menopausal women who drink large amounts of sugary drinks such as regular coke, lemonade and fruit punch, are at a much higher risk of developing the most common type of endometrial cancer than their peers who stick to sugar-free beverages, according to Fox News.
"Increased levels of estrogens and insulin are established risk factors for endometrial cancer," Inoue-Choi said.
Researchers found women who reported the highest intake of sugary drinks had a 78 percent increased risk of developing estrogen-dependent type 1 endometrial cancer. The more sugary drinks they consumed, the higher their risk for developing cancer climbs.
The risk is prevalent regardless of a woman's body mass index, physical activity diabetes history and history of cigarette smoking.
The study, which was published in the journal Cancer, Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, analyzed dietary and medical data collected from more than 23,000 women as part of the Iowa's Women's Health Study.
Participants were asked to report their typical consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages in addition to their consumption of noncarbonated fruit drinks.
Researchers said Type 1 endometrial cancer is an estrogen-dependent cancer "which may explain why surgery beverages are linked to an increased risk for the disease."
An estimated 49,000 women will be diagnosed with endometrial cancer in the United States this year, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
"We know ... that higher consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages may increase body fat, and higher body fat may increase estrogen levels," Maki Inoue-Choi, study author and a research associate at the University of Minnesota, told Fox News.
The research fit in with other research linking sugar intake, obesity and a lack of exercise with the cancer, which kills more than 8,000 U.S. women a year.
"Other studies have shown increasing consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages has paralleled the increase in obesity," Inoue-Choi said. "Obese women tend to have higher levels of estrogens and insulin than women of normal weight."
