It’s probably not something you think
about every day, whether or not the foods you are eating could contain
carcinogens, but with almost 1.5 million people diagnosed with some type of
cancer just last year, perhaps it’s time to look at what is in our foods that
could be causing such a huge number of new cancer patients. Here is a list of
the top 16 foods that you most likely consume every day that may contain
carcinogens or be suspected of causing cancer
Canned Tomatoes
While fresh tomatoes are actually considered
to be the cancer fighting foods, those canned ones are nothing like that.
Actually, most canned foods are a concern because of what the can is lined
with. The lining of almost all canned foods are made with a chemical
called bisphenol-A, or BPA. A study published in May of 2013 by the
Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences showed that BPA actually affects
the way genes work inside the brain of rats. Even the FDA agrees that there is
a problem with BPA as it is supporting efforts to either replace or at the very
least, to minimize the amounts found in canned foods. You know it must be bad
when even the very lax FDA is concerned! Tomatoes are believed to be
exceptionally dangerous due to their high acidity, which seems to cause
BPA to leech from the lining of the can into the tomatoes themselves. The level
of BPA can be so high in fact; you should seriously consider not feeding them
to children. Due to FDA laws, there are no standards for labeling BPA so simply
because a can does not say it has it does not mean that it does not contain
BPA. Be safe and avoid cans. Cook fresh or buy glass bottles
Soda Pop
Perhaps you heard about the recent study
that was published in May in the American Journal of Nutrition? It found that
people who consumed more than one soda per day had a higher risk of stroke than
people who did not drink sodas.
Loaded with sugar, sodas are an
empty source of calories that cause weight gain and contribute to the
nationwide epidemic of obesity. Drinking large amounts of this rapidly digested
sugar causes your blood sugar to spike which can lead to both inflammation
and insulin resistance. Soda is often the root cause of gastro-esophageal
reflux disease, which is when the contents of the stomach leak into the
esophagus causing not only pain but an actual burning of the esophagus from
stomach acid. Although sodas are not a direct cause of ulcers, they are known
to irritate and make those with ulcers have more pain. Sodas also contain artificial
colorings and food chemicals like derivative 4-methylimidazole (4-MI); no
wonder soda pop has been shown to cause cancer.
Farmed Salmon
Although fish sounds like one of the
healthiest foods possible, farmed salmon is one you should avoid.
Unfortunately, more than 60 percent of the salmon consumed in the USA is farm
raised.
These fish are fed unnatural diets and
are contaminated with chemicals, antibiotics, pesticides, and other known
carcinogens. They live in very crowded conditions which results in these fish
having 30 times the number of sea lice than wild salmon. Farmed
salmon are fed chemicals to make their meat that reddish pink color that should
occur naturally but doesn’t because of the diet of chicken litter that they are
fed. Also, due to their diet, they have less of the healthy omega-3 that we
think we are getting when we consume fish. Studies have also shown that farmed
salmon contain high levels of PCB’s, mercury, and cancer-causing dioxins. Avoid
farmed salmon and buy it canned or look for labels in your market that state
the fish you are buying is wild sockeye salmon.
Processed Meats
What exactly are processed meats? This
is a long list that includes, but is not limited to, sausages, hot dogs, bacon,
most lunch meats like bologna or pimento loaf. Researchers who wrote in the
journal of BMC Medicine said that the excessive salts and chemicals that are
used when making processed meats are damaging to your health. The study showed
that 1 in every 17 people who were involved in the study died and those who ate
160 grams or more of processed meats increased their risk of early death as
much as 44 percent within 12 years as opposed to those who ate 20 grams or
less. This study involved people from 10 European countries and went on for
almost 13 years. All these processed meats contain numerous chemicals and
preservatives, including sodium nitrates, which make them, look appealing and
fresh but are well known carcinogens. Smoking meats seem to be particularly bad
as the meat picks up tar from the smoking process. Yes, tar, the same deadly
ingredient that cigarette smoke contains
Microwave Popcorn
Those little bags of popcorn are so
convenient to just stick in the microwave, you wouldn’t think for a minute that
they could be dangerous to your health, but they are. First, let’s talk about
the bag itself. According to Wikipedia, conventional microwave popcorn
bags are lined with a chemical called perfluorooctanoic acid ( PFOA). This
is a toxin you can find in Teflon also. According to a recent
study at the University of California, PFOA is linked to
infertility in women. Numerous studies in lab animals and humans show
that exposure to PFOA significantly increases the risk of kidney, bladder,
liver, pancreas and testicular cancers.
Now, let’s talk about the contents.
Although every manufacturer uses slightly different ingredients, most of them
use soybean oil (a GMO product) as well as various preservatives such
as propyl gallate, a chemical that is causes stomach problems and skin
rashes. Now they don’t actually say they are using GMO corn kernels, but that’s
because the government says they don’t have to. Even if they don’t use GMO
corn, you can bet they aren’t using organic corn
Potato Chips
Yes, we know, potato chips are cheap,
great tasting, quick snack, however, the negative effects they have on your
body may not be worth the little bit of pleasure you derive from these crispy
snacks Potato chips are high in both fat and calories, which are sure to
bring on weight gain. A study done in the New England Journal of medicine found
that eating just 1 once of potato chips per day caused an average 2 pound
weight gain in one year. Besides being full oftrans-fats which can cause
high cholesterol in most people, they have excessive sodium levels which,
for many people, cause high blood pressure. Potato chips have artificial
flavors, numerous preservatives, and colors as well, which is something
else your body doesn’t need. Potato chips are fried in high temperatures to
make them crispy but this also causes them to make a material called acrylamide,
a known carcinogen that is also found in cigarettes
It’s hard to say no to your kids demands
for chips sometimes, therefore, as a sneaky alternative, buy them baked potato
chips or tortilla chips which are at least lower in both fat and calories. Air
popped popcorn and whole wheat pretzels are another healthier option. Or try
baked apple chips or banana chips which are dehydrated. Both are crispy and are
far healthier than regular potato chips.
Hydrogenated oils
Let’s start from the point that all
hydrogenated oils are vegetable oils. Vegetable oils cannot be extracted
naturally like butter is, vegetable oils must be chemically removed from
their source, and then they are changed to be more acceptable to consumers. They
are frequently deodorized and colored to look appealing. All
vegetable oils contain high levels of Omega–6 fatty acids. An excess of
Omega- 6 fatty acids cause health problems, such as heart disease and in
increase in various cancers, especially skin cancer. You need a good balance of
both Omega 3 and Omega 6. Try to get plenty of Omega 3 every day. You can do
this in the form of supplements and grass-fed meats, also fatty fish such as
salmon and mackerel are a very good source of Omega 3. Hydrogenated oils are
used to preserve processed foods and keep them looking appealing for a long as
possible. Hydrogenated oils influence our cell membranes’ structure and
flexibility, which is linked to cancer
Foods that are highly salted,
pickled, or smoked
Foods that are cured by use of nitrates or
nitrites act as preservatives as well as adding color to the meat. Although
nitrates do not cause cancer in and of themselves, under certain conditions
these chemicals change once they are inside the body into N-nitroso composites.
It’s this N-nitroso that is associated with a greater increase the risk of
developing cancers.
Smoking foods such as meat or nuts
causes these food items to absorb considerable amounts of the tar that smoke
produces. Tar is a known carcinogen. Meats such as bacon, sausage, bologna, and
salami are high in fat and salt. Pickled foods are also very high in salts.
There is overwhelming evidence that
eating these types of foods greatly increases the risk of colorectal cancer and
higher rates of stomach cancer. The rates of stomach cancer are much greater in
places such as Japan where a traditional diet contains many foods that are
highly salted, and/or smoked
Very nice an informative blog
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