Your Favorite Foods Are Killing Your Body!
Ham, bacon, salami and frankfurts. These foods are all loved throughout the country and around the world. Whether it be the classic American breakfast of bacon and eggs, the traditional Christmas dinner of roasted ham, or the favorite Italian hoagie, these meats show up on the table in a variety of ways. However, these foods have something else in common. They are all Group 1 carcinogens.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer classifies compounds or physical factors into four groups based on their risk of causing cancer. Group 1 carcinogens are things that have plenty of evidence that they cause cancer. There are other groups too, such as Group 2A, which are things that have strong evidence that they can cause cancer in humans, but at present it isn’t conclusive. Foods such as such as beef, lamb and pork all fall into 2A. Studies show that the risk of developing bowel cancer goes up 1.18 times for every 50 grams of processed meat eaten per day. The main cancers caused by poor diet is colon and rectal cancer, with the two making up 38.3% of dietary related cases. Still, with all this information, hamburgers and cheeseburgers are in the top 5 most eaten foods in America, with steak, hotdogs, and other red meats falling in the top 20. According to the American Cancer Society, about 1 in 5 cancers in the U.S. and about 1 in 6 cancer deaths can be linked to poor nutrition, being overweight, not exercising, or alcohol. In 2015 more than 80,000 new cancer cases were estimated to be associated with poor dietary choices among US adult.
Naturally the question rises, how exactly do these foods cause cancer? According to Cancer Research UK, nitrates and nitrites are added during processing to keep the meat fresher for longer. These chemicals, when consumed, become N-nitroso chemicals (NOCs) that can damage the cells that line our bowel. This damage can lead to bowel cancer. MD Anderson Cancer Center stated that there are three chemicals that are specifically linked to colorectal cancer. Heme, which occurs naturally in red meat, nitrates and nitrites, and heterocyclic amines and polycyclic amines, chemicals that are released when the meat is cooked at high temperatures. Each of these chemicals can damage the colon and rectum. As damage accumulates over time, the risk of cancer significantly increases.
Because of the mass consumption of meat in the USA, a large percentage of cancer is preventable. A 2017 American Cancer Society study showed that about 42% of cancer diagnoses and 45% of cancer deaths in the United States are linked to modifiable risk factors, like diet, cigarette usage, and alcohol intake. There are many dietary options to dramatically reduce the risk of contracting colon cancer. For example, the Mediterranean diet, which is rich in fiber, antioxidants, and anti-inflammatory compounds while being low in red and processed meats and ultra-processed foods, is associated with a general protective effect against cancer and cancer-related deaths. Other anti-cancer diets include diets high in fruits and vegetables are effective because these foods contain compounds that help protect against cellular damage. Another option is to be an educated buyer. Reading the label on red meats in search of “nitrates” or the word “uncured” (meaning it still has nitrates and nitrites in it) can prevent consumption of carcinogenic meat.
In today’s society, schools rely more and more on processed foods for student lunches. By the time kids graduate from high school, they have already had carcinogens everyday from their school cafeteria. This is very important as colon and rectal cancers are happening in earlier ages, which is why the recommended age to start screening colonoscopy went down from 50 to 46 years. The first step to prevent these cancers is to stop feeding the youth carcinogens on a daily basis. This can only happen if schools switch to a more fruit or vegetable heavy diet, or use cleaner meats, as detailed above.
A disease that takes more than 600,000 lives per year can be dramatically affected by factors of our lives that we control. By altering your diet, you can stop eating chemicals and live a long, cancer free life. By spreading awareness, we can not only keep ourselves safe, but our friends and family too!
Thanks for reading! If you’ve enjoyed what you’ve read, remember to follow the publication (and clap/comment too!). Want to write for Penny Press? Please check out our submission guidelines and ask to be added as a writer in the comments of that post.
