Sugary drinks remain one of the most widely consumed beverage categories in the United States, even as public health agencies and researchers continue to examine their long-term effects. New findings released August 17, 2026, narrowed that concern to a specific risk: a higher incidence of gastric cancer among adults who reported drinking at least one sugar-sweetened beverage per day. The research did not identify the risk with artificially sweetened beverages in the same analysis.
A large U.S. cohort study found a higher gastric cancer risk
Mass General Brigham announced the findings on August 17, 2026, citing a study published in Gastro Hep Advances titled “Association between sugar-sweetened and artificially sweetened beverage intake and gastric cancer incidence.” According to the health system, researchers analyzed data from 112,284 U.S. adults in the long-running Nurses’ Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-up Study, with follow-up extending through June 2021 for women and January 2022 for men. The study reported that people who consumed at least one sugar-sweetened beverage a day had more than twice the risk of developing gastric cancer compared with people who drank those beverages less than once a month.
The publication described the association as the first observed in a U.S. population for this specific cancer outcome, according to Mass General Brigham and coverage in GI and Hepatology News. The risk signal was stronger in women than in men within the cohort data, with women who drank more than one serving daily showing roughly triple the risk and men showing about double the risk relative to the lowest-intake group. Researchers also reported that artificially sweetened beverages were not associated with increased gastric cancer risk in this study.
What the findings mean in the U.S., and what is still unknown
The study was national in scope rather than tied to one city or state, and the cohorts tracked U.S. health professionals over several decades. That means the findings are relevant to consumers across the country, especially because Mass General Brigham said about 65% of U.S. adults report consuming one or more sugar-sweetened beverages every day. The paper did not identify a particular soda brand, retailer, restaurant chain, or geographic hotspot, and it did not state that any product is being recalled or removed from sale.
Researchers also did not say that daily soda intake causes gastric cancer. The study was observational, meaning it found an association after tracking beverage habits and later cancer diagnoses, but it cannot by itself prove direct causation. Public summaries of the study did not include a state-by-state breakdown of participants, a brand-specific analysis, or a list of product types beyond the broad categories of sugar-sweetened and artificially sweetened beverages.
Why researchers say sugary beverages remain under scrutiny
The new gastric cancer findings build on a broader body of evidence connecting sugar-sweetened beverages to chronic disease. Earlier research has linked higher sugary drink intake to obesity, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, liver cancer risk, and chronic liver disease mortality, while the evidence for artificially sweetened beverages has been more mixed and often observational. A recent JAMA-related commentary on soft drinks and liver cancer said these beverages warrant close review because they may influence metabolic pathways tied to disease over time.
Mass General Brigham said prior studies had already connected sugar-sweetened beverages with colorectal, breast, and liver cancers, but evidence for gastric cancer had been limited before this report. Harvard public health experts have also said sugary beverages can raise health risks both directly and indirectly through weight gain, diabetes, and related metabolic effects. For consumers, the immediate takeaway is not a product withdrawal but a new piece of evidence that daily sugary soda intake may carry more serious long-term risks than previously documented, while further research is still needed to confirm mechanisms and causation.