5 Reasons to Eat Less Sugar (Besides Weight Loss)

The science: After six months on a high-sugar diet, between 50 and 58 percent of mice developed mammary tumors, and many of them had growths in their lungs, too, according to a study in Cancer Research. The amount of sugar they were taking in was comparable to what you'd find in a typical Western diet. Researcher Lorenzo Cohen, PhD, a professor of clinical cancer prevention at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, pins the blame not only on the fact that sugar can lead to weight gain (obesity is a known risk factor for cancer), but also on how it drives inflammation levels up.

The takeaway: As above, the fact that this study was done on mice shouldn't make the potential implications less important, since inflammation and obesity are known contributors to cancer in humans, as well.