7 Seeds That Grow into Cancer
There is something wrong with our lifestyle!
You may know many carcinogenic foods that risk your health. But in this article, I thought of talking about some reasons for this health issue other than foods that will prevent you from the future risk of cancer.
I am not saying anything wrong if you felt neglected about the word ‘cancer’ when you saw it. Cancer has been a common issue just as fever or cough for most of the people nowadays. But it’s not that simple as fever or cough. It’s much more complex and makes it even worse if not treated properly. Identifying cancer in its early stage is very important for the treatments.
I got the idea about writing an article on cancers because some things happened recently, which I’m not going to mention right now. But I think almost everyone has any kind of experience regarding cancers.
If I could recall a recent situation which every one may know, that would be the passing away of American actor Chadwick Boseman due to the colon cancer. Cancer has been a disastrous health issue, which is escalating and invading the whole world despite age, sex, skin color, nationality, or status.
When I thought of writing this article, the first thing I did was, writing down a list of items that I come across in my daily routine. I strongly believed that something is wrong with our lifestyle. That should be the methods we got used recently because the cancer was not very common in the past. So on that list, I mainly included the items I was doubtful. Then I searched for those items one by one, and here are the things I found.
I was just stunned.
01. Skincare products
“Petrolatum FREE”
Are you familiar with this phrase in many of the skincare products? Why are they promoting “petrolatum free” products and what’s wrong with that?
Petrolatum (petroleum jelly) is a combination of mineral oils and waxes. Skincare products use petrolatum as a moisturizing agent and water protective barrier.
Petrolatum is not found as a direct cause of cancer. But, if not refined properly, petrolatum can be contaminated by polycyclic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which is a cause of cancer. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has classified most of the PAHs under group 2A that are probably carcinogenic and group 2B that are possibly carcinogenic to humans.
If you have no evidence about the level of refining of petrolatum in your skincare product, it’s better to shift to a “petrolatum FREE” product.
02. Soap and shampoo
You probably love the foam of soap or shampoo when using it.
Many brands of cleansing products use cocamide diethanolamine (cocamide DEA) as their thickening and foaming agent. This agent is formed using the fatty acids of coconut oil. But IARC has listed cocamide DEA as a group 2B carcinogen that can possibly be carcinogenic to humans.
Laboratory tests have found cocamide DEA as a cause of liver and kidney cancers. So, if you find this constituent in the list of ingredients of your cleansing product, try to find a safety brand.
03. Hot beverages
Some people love a steaming cup of tea or coffee beside them after a long day at work. That has the potential to relax both their body and mind.
But IARC has classified the consumption of ‘very hot beverages’ under group 2A carcinogens that are probably carcinogenic to humans.
‘Very hot’ means how much!
Well, IARC has mentioned that as the beverages hotter than 65 degrees Celsius. Recent studies have found that these hot beverages are associated with esophageal cancer.
If you are a hot beverage lover, try to have your tea, coffee, soup, hot chocolate, or anything when it’s just hot, not ‘very hot.’
04. Plastic containers
Researchers suggest that the plastics have a possibility of leaching chemicals when it’s heated. It can happen when you put something hot in a plastic container or keep them in a hot environment.
Generally, we use polycarbonate plastic in our food containers and water bottles, mainly because of its transparent feature. When this plastic-type gets heated, it releases bisphenol A (BPA), which is listed under group 2A carcinogens by the IARC.
Vinyl chloride from polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is a group 1 carcinogen, which means it’s carcinogenic to humans. Thankfully, PVC is not commonly used to make food containers or water bottles.
If you are using plastic containers to pack your foods or carry water, make sure to keep them away from heat. But it’s worth to find alternatives for plastic such as glass, wood, or stainless steel containers. That would also be a great solution for the environmental pollution caused by plastics.
05. Sun exposure
You may love to have sunbaths or spend long hours in the sunlight.
Then you need to be aware of these facts because excessive exposure to sunlight can cause different health problems while correct practices improve your health level.
If you follow the correct methods, sunbathing provides you with so many benefits. It helps to regulate melatonin production, improve blood circulation, stimulate the absorption of calcium by bones, and synthesis of vitamin D3.
If you are exposing to excessive amounts of sunlight, mainly between 8 am and 5 pm, it’s not a very good idea for your health. Such long-term exposures can cause skin cancers because too much UV radiation is damaging the DNA of our skin cells.
To prevent that risk, you need to be cautious about the time and duration of your sunbath, keeping yourself hydrated and moving away when you start sweating. The best hours to take a sunbath would be before 8 am and after 5 pm. If you have to work long hours in the daylight, make sure to use sunscreen cream. Also, try to wear a hat, scarf, sunglasses or use an umbrella.
06. Night shift work
There are some jobs with night shifts such as nursing, air traffic controllers, police officers, drivers, and security guards. That’s a part of their job and hard to make preferable changes.
Naturally, we sleep at night and work in the daytime. The best time to sleep is around 10 and 11 pm, while the best time to wake up is around 6 and 7 am. When we work against this natural process, that disrupts the circadian rhythm, which is an internal process that regulates one’s sleep-wake cycle.
It can be a source of many health problems and was recognized as a cause of cancer too. IARC has classified night shift works under group 2A carcinogens that is probably carcinogenic to human.
Most of us stay awake till dawn and sleep till noon. Sometimes this happens because of the studies or related work. But there is another group that stays awake without any reason, and they just scroll up and down in social media or watch films.
Whatever the reason it is, if you can take a little bit of time from your busy schedules to come up with a time management plan, that would be great. ‘Working till dawn and sleeping till noon’ is not the best solution for your workload as it disrupts the natural circadian rhythm. Try to sleep early and then wake up early. That will give you enough time for your work, and managing that time is totally up to you.
07. Teabags
When you are tired and looking for something to freshen up your mood, a cup of tea would be the first thing that comes into your mind.
You then place a tea bag in your mug and pour boiling water. Just wait for 2 or 3 minutes for your tea to steep. Then enjoy a nice cup of tea!
But, have you ever thought, this nice cup of tea which freshened up your mood would be a source of cancer? There’s nothing wrong with tea. The problem is in the tea bags you are using.
Generally, there are plastic and paper teabags. You know that the chemicals in plastic leach out when they get heated. Bisphenol-A (BPA), bisphenol-S (BPS), and phthalates are some of the chemicals leached out from the plastic tea bags. Bisphenol-A has listed under group 2A carcinogens by IARC, that are probably carcinogenic to human.
Usually, paper tea bags are treated with epichlorohydrin. When you add water over these tea bags, epichlorohydrin is hydrolyzed into 3-MCPD, which is classified as a group 2B carcinogen by IARC, that are possibly carcinogenic to human.
Did your interest in tea fade away? Do not let that happen because tea provides you with many health benefits. You just need to stay away from tea bags, not tea. So, try to choose loose leaf tea that supports your health and also gives you a better experience.
We need to be more cautious about cancer than ever, but unfortunately, most people are not. That’s the reason for the rapid growth of cancers in the past 10–15 years. It’s worth to do a careful check of the ingredients on your products and practice good health habits.
I am not telling that ‘we are not still late.’ Thousands of deaths due to cancer in the past few years are the pieces of evidence for the previous statement. But we all have the fortitude for a change if we want. If we can change these small things personally, that would be a great turning point as a whole.
Disclaimer: “This article may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a small commission, at no cost to you, if you make a purchase through a link. Thank you!”
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