In broad terms, cancer is a disease caused due to cell abnormalities. But despite all the medical progress today, the exact cause of how these cell abnormalities are caused in an individual is not determinable . The causes of cancer (cell abnormalities) range widely across food patterns, lifestyle, genetic / biological / environmental factors, occupational risks and more. In this crisp article, we will look at the foods that increase the risk of cancer. And surprisingly, we eat some of these bad foods for cancer on a regular basis thus increasing the risk in the long run without realizing. Let’s get straight into the list:
1. Your Favorite Cola & Popcorn:
Popcorn when heated / made in the microwave leads to the breaking of its non-stick coating into perfluorooctanoic acid. This acid has been associated with causing liver and prostate cancer.
Carbonated drinks including the so-called “diet-cokes” and other diet drinks are all shown to feed cancer cells due to its sugar content. Contrary to popular myth, diet sodas are just as damaging to the health as any other soda. Sodas increase a great risk of obesity which in turn leads to a larger risk of colon, kidney, pancreatic, breast cancer among few.
2. Canned Tomatoes:
Fresh tomatoes are loaded with nutrients and are great for health. However, once canned, tomatoes begin to extract the BPA content from the cans due to (the tomatoes’) their high acidic content. Interaction with BPA has been thought to resulting in reproductive complexes, heart diseases and of course, the topic of our discussion – cancer.
3. Diet Foods – Not So Healthy Indeed:
Diet foods are marketed as healthy usually because of limited or zero fat content. However, on the other side, this is compensated with huge content of sugar. And like we’ve seen earlier, sugar can lead to a chain of health risks. Additional tip – sugar is extremely bad for immunity. Research suggests that one teaspoon of sugar instantly drops your energy levels by 50% !! And thus avoid sugar especially during the current Corona crisis in order to prevent the disease. Because the higher the immunity, lower the chances of being affected.
4. Who Doesn’t Love Fried Foods?
We all do. But we cannot be doing more injustice to our body when we over-eat fried foods! Foods fried in hydrogenated oil are a big no-no to health. High consumption of trans fat leads to high risk of cancer, insulin resistance and inflammation.
Potato chips, French fries are very popular snacks which we munch on anytime, anywhere. But eating these too regularly can have irreversible and long term effects. So definitely avoid.
5. White Flour – Too Common Eh?
High glycemic index foods (GI foods) feed to the power of the cancer cells and tumor cells. Thus to maintain an anti-cancer diet, make sure you consume less of high GI foods. Always white flour is one such very commonly used ingredients with high GI index. So cut down on your daily white bread, donuts, crackers etc.
6. Process Meat, Salmon etc.
According to Dr. David Carpenter, Director of the Institute for Health and the Environment at the University of Albany, farmed Salmon is a great deal of cancer risk. Further, processed meats like sausage, hot dogs, bacon etc. contain heavy chemical preservatives in them in order to keep them looking fresh and appealing from the outside. But the content of sodium nitrate in them is linked to cause cancer. Therefore try to choose foods without sodium nitrates.
7. Red Meat, Bad Meat:
Meat-dominant countries are noted to have higher cases of cancer. For example, in the West, an individual is believed to consume about 41kgs of red meat per year. However, consumption of 20kgs (or lesser) red meat is considered to be less riskier in terms of being prone to cancer.
8. Processed & Non Organic Foods:
Going by the same drill as above, processed and non organic foods contain excessive harmful chemicals which cause various health issues as well as increases risk of cancer.
NOTE: These are most cancer causing foods and not an exhaustive list. For example, alcohol is another common consumption that is linked to cancer.
So above are the foods to avoid preventing cancer. While preventing these foods does not ensure that you are safe from cancer, it definitely reduces the risk to a substantial extent. Additionally, many of the common modern day foods not only cause cancer but also pose risk to other prevailing health conditions such as diabetes, cardiac diseases, obesity etc.
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