Cancer is a common, often deadly health condition that affects men and women around the world. Common forms of cancer include lung cancer, breast cancer, stomach cancer, colon cancer, cervical cancer, and prostate cancer. Unlike localized tumors, cancer can spread throughout an afflicted person’s body from its area of origin..
Certain foods are for sale every day in your local grocery store that can cause cancer or increase cancerous cell growth. Here is a list of eight cancer-causing foods you should avoid according to science.
1. Processed Meat
Processed meats such as hotdogs, bacon, ham, sausages, and deli meat are full of salt, artificial chemicals and preservatives. Sodium nitrates and sodium nitrites are two carcinogenic preservatives that are present in processed meat. These two substances greatly increase your risk of developing colon cancer.
If you eat a lot of meat, try consuming lean animal proteins instead as healthier alternatives.
2. Red Meat
While red meat is not as unhealthy as process meat, it can still eventually cause cancer. Red meat includes pork, beef, goat, lamb, and veal.
Cooking practices such as grilling or cooking meat to the point of charring it are dangerous methods that can increase the carcinogens present in meat. This occurs when overheated amino acids become carcinogenic substances.
3. Farmed Salmon
Unlike wild-caught salmon, farmed salmon are not nearly as healthy to eat. Plenty of carcinogens contaminate farmed salmon. At fish farms, workers administer pesticides, antibiotics, and other unnatural substances to the fish to combat disease, sea lice, and to add color to their meat.
Mercury and PCB are other deadly substances are also present in farmed salmon.
When you eat fish, check the packaging carefully to make sure it is wild-caught instead of farmed.
4. Microwave Popcorn
Surprisingly enough, those bags of popcorn that you can simply heat up in the microwave are probably more dangerous than you thought.
The cancer-causing properties of this outwardly innocuous snack lies in the bag rather than the popcorn. Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) is a toxic, cancer-causing substance that the popcorn absorbs as it cooks.
Instead, opt for popping your own corn kernels and skip the carcinogenic microwave popcorn bags.
5. Canned Food
The carcinogenic effects of canned foods lies in the can itself. Bisphenol-A (BPA) is a toxic substance that lines the cans of many types of food.
Canned tomatoes are particularly dangerous, as the acidity of this fruit released more BPA from the can than other foods do. Tomatoes are best fresh, frozen, or in glass jars instead.
Be sure to double-check the labels of canned food before you make a purchase to ensure that there is no BPA present.
6. Refined Sugar
Too much sugar can contribute to many health issues, including type 2 diabetes and obesity. Cancerous cells and tumors can feed off of refined sugar and grow more quickly because of it.
This does not mean you should never eat anything sweet again. The natural sugars present in fruits, berries, and vegetables are safe and healthy to consume.
7. Hydrogenated Oils
Artificial, hydrogenated oils are not healthy the way natural oils such as olive oils are. Also called vegetable oil, hydrogenated oils are full of excessive amounts of omega-6 fatty acids and carcinogenic chemicals that promote cancer growth and can damage healthy cells.
- Refined Grains
cancer definition medical
Processed grains include “white” foods such as white bread, white rice, cereal, and any other food that contains white flour. Refined grains lack nutrients and increase your body’s blood sugar to unhealthy levels if you eat them regularly.
Cancerous cells thrive on a regular supply of sugar, so it is better to eat whole grains such as oatmeal, brown rice, whole grain bread, and quinoa.
When it comes to which foods can cause or increase the risk of cancer, there is plenty of conflicting information and unsubstantiated claims scattered across the internet. Sometimes, it looks as if nearly every food causes cancer depending on which blog or website you look at.
The best way to determine which foods can increase the risk of cancer is to rely on scientific studies and advice from your doctor.
To reduce your risk of cancer, make sure you eat whole, unprocessed foods as much as possible.