evidence: You might have heard that sugar causes cancer or makes it grow faster. In some ways, this may make sense. But the science on this isn't clear. It may not be that sugar directly causes cancer. [...] Other cancer experts say sugar itself can drive cancer. One such researcher is Lewis Cantley, PhD, director of the Meyer Cancer Center at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York. [...] Even if you don’t think sugar can cause cancer, it’s wise to limit added sugar. Research says you should get no more than 6 teaspoons a day if you’re a woman and 9 if you’re a man. Yet on average, people in the U.S. get about 17 teaspoons of added sugar each day. That’s around 60 pounds of sugar each year.