Elevated blood sugar that isn’t even in the diabetic range is known to raise the risk of all types of cancer.

The statement “High hemoglobin A1c levels within the non-diabetic range are associated with the risk of all cancers” is directly out of a study published in the International Journal of Cancer. Hemoglobin Alc is a blood test that measures your average blood sugar for the previous three months. It specifically checks how much sugar is bound to your red blood cells because they live for an average of three months. A normal non-diabetic haemoglobin Alc is below 6 percent.

In the current study 29,629 people aged between 46 and 80 years of age were studied. The individuals with a higher blood sugar level were at significantly increased risk of all types of cancer. The authors of the study highlight the fact that people need to be aware that high blood sugar isn’t only associated with diabetes; it’s also a huge cancer risk.

A lot of people don’t take type 2 diabetes very seriously. Sure it is not as serious as type 1 diabetes, but still, having too much sugar in your bloodstream can have disastrous consequences.

This study highlights how even so called high-normal blood sugar can be a serious threat. If you want to reduce your risk of cancer, please minimize your intake of any food that raises blood sugar – so that obviously includes sugary foods like cookies, cake, soda and ice-cream, but also high carbohydrate foods that are rapidly digested into sugar. This includes breakfast cereal, most bread, pasta, rice and potatoes.

Of course, everyone metabolises carbohydrates differently and some people can get away with eating more of them without suffering consequences. If you are overweight, have polycystic ovarian syndrome or a family history of type 2 diabetes, you especially need to keep your carbs low.

Reference: Goto et al. Int J Cancer: 138, 1741-1753 (2016)