Hundreds of studies have made it obvious that what we eat affects our risk of developing cancer. In fact, the World Health Organization (WHO) says that dietary factors are responsible for at least 30 percent of all cancers in Western countries. Here are nine of the worst offenders.
1. Fried foods
Certain foods that are heated to 248 F, such as french fries and potato chips, form a suspected human carcinogen called acrylamide, according to the National Cancer Institute. Researchers found that a bag of potato chips may contain as much as 500 times the amount that WHO allows when acrylamide is used to treat drinking water. Both WHO and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations stated that acrylamide levels in foods are a "major concern." Ovarian and endometrial cancers have been associated with high levels of acrylamide.
2. Heavily salted foods
A Japanese study linked salted foods with a 15 percent increase in cancer. In addition, salt allows cancer-causing Helicobacter pyloric bacteria to thrive in the stomach. Researchers at Korea's National Cancer Center followed 2.2 million people and found that, like the Japanese, those who ate a lot of salty foods increased their risk of developing stomach cancer over those who had a lower sodium intake. Gastric cancer, the No. 1 diagnosed cancer in Japan and Korea, is likely due to the love of salty foods.
3. Pickled foods
In 2005, a South Korean study found that people who ate high amounts of kimchi (pickled cabbage) had a 50 percent higher risk of stomach cancer than those who ate less. However, refrigeration has contributed to the drop in stomach cancer during the past 100 years because it reduces the need for pickling foods to preserve them.
4. Sugar
A recent Italian study found that people who ranked in the top third of sugar eaters increased their odds of pancreatic cancer by 78 percent compared to those who consumed the least sugar. Scientists believe that sugar influences the body's production of insulin — encouraging the growth and division of cells in the pancreas, and thus encouraging the development of cancerous cells.
The type of sugar may increase the risk even more. A study at the Jonsson Cancer Center found that pancreatic cancer cells exposed to fructose — a type of sugar found in many processed foods, including soda — grew and reproduced at a much faster rate than those exposed to glucose.
5. Charred meats
Cooking meats at high temperatures creates carcinogens called heterocyclic aromatic amines. The longer the meat is cooked at high temperatures, the higher the amounts of these compounds. A recent study at the University of Utah found that men and women who ate the highest amounts of well-done meat increased their risk of rectal cancer.
6. Alcohol
Excess alcohol consumption has been linked to higher levels of many types of cancer in both men and women. They include cancer of the mouth, liver, colon, and esophagus — which is the fastest growing type of cancer in the United States. One study found that two or more drinks per day increased the risk of dying from breast cancer by 30 percent in postmenopausal women. Researchers speculate that in the case of breast cancer, alcohol affects estrogen levels.
7. Meat and saturated fat
Harvard studies found that those who ate meat every day had three times the colon cancer risk of those who seldom ate meat. And researchers from the University of Texas found that men who had undergone surgery for prostate cancer and had diets high in saturated fats (including steaks, burgers, and cheese) were almost twice as likely to see their cancer progress.
8. Farmed fish
Farmed fish often contain high levels of carcinogens such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), a class of man-made chemicals once used as an insulating material in electric equipment. The Environmental Working Group found that farmed salmon had 16 times the amount of PCBs found in wild salmon. The journal Science found farmed salmon contained 10 times more PCBs and dioxin than wild salmon. Although banned in the United States in 1977, PCBs still contaminate the environment.
9. Cured meats
Carcinogens called nitrosamines are found in cured meats, such as lunch meats, bacon, and sausage. A study by the University of Southern California School of Medicine found that the mothers of children stricken with brain tumors were much more likely to have eaten large amounts of meats containing nitrates during pregnancy than moms who have healthy children. Also, a Hawaiian study found that people who ate the most cured meats increased their risk of developing pancreatic cancer by 67 percent.
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