Colon cancer crisis in young people could be fueled by booming drinks brands adored by teens
They are used by millions of workers to power through afternoon slumps.
But highly caffeinated energy drinks could be partly fueling the explosion of colorectal cancers in young people, US researchers warn.
They believe an ingredient in Red Bull and other top brands such as Celsius and Monster may be linked to bacteria in the gut that speeds up tumor growth.
Researchers in Florida theorize that cancer cells use taurine – an amino acid thought to improve mental clarity – as their ‘primary energy source.’
At the world’s biggest cancer conference this week, the team announced a new human trial that will test their hypothesis, which so far is based on animal studies.
They plan to discover whether drinking an energy drink every day causes levels of cancer-causing gut bacteria to rise.
Highly caffeinated energy drinks could be partly fueling the explosion of colorectal cancers in young people , US researchers warn – based on a new hypothesis
DailyMail.com revealed earlier this week how diets high in sugar and low in fiber may also be contributing to the epidemic of colon cancers in under-50s.
The University of Florida researchers are recruiting around 60 people aged 18 to 40 to be studied for four weeks.
Half of the group will consume at least one original Red Bull or Celsius, a sugar-free energy drink, per day and their guts will be compared to a control group who don’t.
The upcoming trial is ‘one of the earliest’ studies to evaluate potential factors contributing to the meteoric in colorectal cancer, the researchers say.
Early onset cancers are still uncommon. About 90 per cent of all cancers affect people over the age of 50.
But rates in younger age groups have soared around 70 percent since the 1990s, with around 17,000 new cases diagnosed in the US each year.
Source: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-13493163/red-bull-colon-cancer-crisis-young-people.html