There is a list of foods that cause cancer as there is one on foods that can prevent it. Always remember that what you eat is what you become. It can either make you healthy or sick. Often, what you love most to eat are major factors for chronic inflammation. Unfortunately, chronic inflammation leads to diseases like cancers and diabetes. Unhealthy foods are also associated with obesity.
Examine the meals you prepare everyday. If red meat (especially when it's cured) takes a major space on your plate, your digestive system will most likely be the first to suffer followed by the other systems.
The systems inside your body are connected to each other and can't function very well if one system is burdened. The immune system becomes weak when your digestive system is weak.
Polyps can start to grow if your bowel is not healthy. Remember, your food is supposed to keep or make you well and not ill.
1. Potato chips and french fries
When I told my husband about this, he was dismayed. Potatoes are his favorite. He loves them fried, mashed and boiled in stews or casseroles.
How do potatoes become foods that cause cancer? When they are fried or baked because they produce higher levels of acrylamide when cooked in high temperature.
Acrylamide is one of the many cancer causing agents. It is formed not only by potatoes but also by certain foods when fried, baked or roasted.
Cancers such as endometrial and ovarian are associated with exposure to high levels of acrylamide. This chemical is used in the production of paper, plastics and dyes and is found to cause damage to your brain.
I told my husband that he can still have his potatoes but only once a week and in a small amount. Eating too much potato chips and french fries is what should be avoided if prevention of the disease is your goal.
2. Pickled vegetables
I love pickled vegetables! So it was my turn to be dismayed when I saw that it's in the list of foods that cause cancer.
Eating a lot of pickled vegetables makes you more vulnerable to tumors in your esophagus (one of the rare types of cancer). Cases of esophageal adenocarcinoma are unusually common in Japan and China where pickled vegetables are a major part of their diet.
I still eat pickled vegetables but only in very small portion and not as often.
Too much salt and sugar in your diet can make you gain weight and cause blood sugar and blood pressure to rise. Nitrates are controversial because when cured meat with nitrates is cooked, it releases a potent carcinogenic substance called nitrosamine. Nitrosamine is carcinogenic.
Bacon used to be a staple on my family's table during breakfast but not anymore. I still serve bacon once or twice a month and only as a side dish.
4. Smoked foods
Smoked foods can cause tumors in the stomach because of the carcinogenic substances called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) that form on the surface of food during the smoking process.
5. Grilled or charcoaled meat
Do you love barbecued meat? Who doesn't, right? But grilled meat is found to be one of the unhealthy foods because they produce chemicals called heterocyclic amines or HCAs.
These chemicals are formed when the fats and protein in the meat come into contact with high heat.
If you love your steaks medium-well or well-done, your risk for colon polyps and eventually, tumors is three times more than someone who has his steak medium-rare or rare. High intake of well-done, fried or barbecued meats makes you more prone to colorectal tumor.
6. White bread, pasta and rice
Anything that is white is unhealthy because white is equal to processed. White bread and pasta come from bleached flour but even unbleached white flour is processed, too.
White rice is also on the list of acidic foods because it has a very high sugar content compared to brown rice.
In addition, many baked products that are made of processed flour can contain high levels of saturated fats. A diet rich in saturated fats always leads to obesity. If you're obese, try to lose weight because there is a definite correlation between cancer and obesity.
Saturated fats are closely linked to what causes breast cancer.
What's your choice now? You can either choose any of the healthy eating plans for prevention of tumors or you can continue eating foods that cause cancer.
Related Pages You Might Like:
Examples of Cancer Causing Foods | Unhealthy Eating Habits: Symptoms of Eating Disorders | What Causes Colon Cancer
Cancer Prevention Home > Risk Factors >Acidic Foods that Encourage Tumor Growth
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