Cancer can be caused by different reasons, including genetics, tobacco usage, poor diet, lack of physical activity, some infections, as well as chronic exposure to environmental chemicals and radiation.
According to researchers, your daily habits such as physical activity and diet, may be contributing to your risk of cancer more than you may think. Namely, eating unhealthy foods and not being physically active on a regular basis have been linked to cancer.
In order to lower your chance of cancer, you may already know that you need to stop smoking (if you are a smoker) and start leading a healthier diet and introducing physical activity to your lifestyle.
Below, check out the foods you should exclude from your daily diet if you want to improve your health and minimize your chance of cancer.
8 Cancer-Causing Foods You Need to Stop Consuming
- Processed meats
Meat products like hot dogs, sausages, bacon, and lunch meats have been linked with higher risk of pancreatic cancer (it elevates one risk by 67 percent!). This is believed to be a consequence of the high amount of preservatives and chemicals in meat which are used to better the taste. If you do not want to exclude meat entirely from your nutrition, remember that there are healthier meat variants such as lean meat (prepared at home!) and wild-caught fish.
- Microwaved popcorn
Although a lot of people find this to be one of the most convenient snacks, the package they come in contains a chemical known as PFOA which has been connected to breast, bladder, kidney, colorectal, prostate, lung, and thyroid cancer, as well as leukaemia.
- Refined white flour
During the process of refining, white flour is stripped of all its nutrients and then it is bleached with a substance known as chlorine gas in order to be more appealing to consumers. Since it has a rather high glycemic index, it will cause insulin spikes without supplying you with nutrients. The carbs are transformed to sugars in the body so excessive consumption of white flour can lead to insulin resistance.
- Potato chips
Store-bought potato chips are prepared in hydrogenated vegetable oil and are heavily salted. A study, showed that only an ounce of potato chips per day will lead to 2-pound weight gain in a period of twelve months! Furthermore, this unhealthy snack is filled with trans-fats that will elevate the cholesterol levels in most people and the excessive presence of sodium will increase the blood pressure. Unfortunately, because they are deep-fried at very high temperatures, they release acrylamide, a well-known carcinogen.
- Hydrogenated oil
Hydrogenated oils have an altered structure with the goal to prolong the product’s shelf life. Chemicals are also included to suppress the odor and to better the oil’s taste. According to research, hydrogenated and partially-hydrogenated vegetable oils found in industrially-processed foods double one’s chance of breast cancer. Opt for healthier variants like coconut or olive oil.
- Smoked and pickled foods
These foods are abundant in preservatives and additives that can pile up in the body as the time goes by and trigger cellular level damage and lead to cancer.
- Farmed fish
Farmed fish or commercially-farmed fish refers to growing different types of fish, for example salmon, in crowded surroundings and they are usually treated with pesticides, antibiotics, and other cancer-causing substances with the goal to regulate the viral, parasitic, and bacterial outbreaks that may result from the overcrowding. Opt for wild-caught variants instead.
- Artificial sweeteners and sugar
Refined sugar and other artificial sweeteners can elevate the insulin levels and these products are the ideal food for cancerous cells. Namely, research indicates that cancerous cells depend on fructose-abundant sweeteners to grow and spread because they can easily metabolize it.
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