Main 10 causes in food trigger cancers

Main 10 causes in food trigger cancers

Cancer is a condition in which abnormal cells divide rapidly and uncontrolled, having the potential to invade surrounding tissues. Cancer cells have the capacity to spread throughout the body via the blood and lymphatic systems.To be turned into a cancer cell, a normal cell must experience a mutation, which is caused by errors during cell division or by exposure to substances that affect DNA. Our food pattern can also affect on DNA of the normal cells results in abnormal cell division and proliferation.

Here, we will discuss how can food is from the leading causes of cancers through the following topics.

1.  Moulds & Aflatoxins:

Aflatoxins and other mycotoxins are produced as natural toxic metabolites by molds in food. It is regarded as one of the most common carcinogenic mycotoxins produced by molds. 

FDA recommendations in 2000 state that the maximum amount of aflatoxins in food is 20 ppb. Mycotoxicoses, which include teratogenic, carcinogenic, cytotoxic, and mutagenic consequences in addition to food poisoning, can therefore occur when food is consumed in quantities over the permissible level of contamination with mould and its associated toxins. Recent investigations have found a direct link between dietary aflatoxin exposure and the likelihood of developing liver cancer.

2.  Chemical food poisoning:  

caused by ingesting plants or animals that have poisons that occur in nature, such as acetylcholine, alkaloids, serotonin, histamines, sulphur, lipids, phenols, antibiotics, and mercury in seafood. Antibiotics, as well as hormones used on animals and crops, have been linked to health issues in humans, including an increased risk of breast cancer. Consuming these chemical poisons in food might cause immediate food poisoning or long-term illnesses like cancer.

3.  Pesticides in food to control pests:

Although being exposed to a carcinogen pesticide does not guarantee that you will develop cancer. This could indicate that you are at a larger risk than people who are not exposed.

It is crucial to wash produce, including green leaves, with water and vinegar while it is running. Because white vinegar contains acetic acid, it has the ability to dissolve substances like pesticides found on fruits and vegetables. It has been discovered that adding chlorine to water in a particular ratio will kill microorganisms and eliminate pesticides. Chlorine oxidation eliminates 60% of the insecticides under study.

4.  Tobacco & Alcohols:

Alcohol may enhance the risk of cancer in a number of ways, according to researchers, including:

• Acetaldehyde, a hazardous chemical and human carcinogen that is produced when ethanol in alcoholic beverages is broken down, can damage proteins and DNA.
• Through a process known as oxidation, the production of reactive oxygen group, which are chemically reactive molecules containing oxygen, can harm the body's DNA, proteins, and lipids.
• Alcoholic beverages also contain a variety of contaminants that are introduced during fermentation and production as nitrosamines,  phenols, and hydrocarbons all are carcinogenic.

NB.  Studies have showed that people who combine both alcohol and tobacco use have much greater risks of developing cancers than people who use either alcohol or tobacco alone.

5.  Red meat and processed meat:

The international agency for research on cancer (IARC) has evaluated more than 800 studies that looked at association of cancer with eating red meat and processed meat. However, (IARC) has classified red meat as group 2A carcinogenic to human based on limited evidence that eating red meat causes cancer in human, While processed meat was classified as group 1A which means it is of course carcinogenic to human in the same group as tobacco and alcohol. In addition, Presence of Mechanical Deboned Meat tissue (MDM) in processed meat triggers its carcinogenic effect.

6.  Sugars & carbohydrates:

Although there is no studies have shown that eating too much sugar causes cancer. There is an indirect link between cancer risk and sugar. As eating a lot of sugar over time can cause you to gain weight and increases your blood sugar levels. This leads to high insulin levels and obesity. Both increase the risk for cancer.

7.  Rancid food products:

Foods that can get rancid include unsaturated fatty acids found in fish, poultry, nuts, seeds, and vegetable oils (such as olive oil). Because they contain more saturated fatty acids, red meats and dairy products (particularly butter) are thus better protected against rancidity.

Cellular DNA can be harmed by free radicals created by spoiled food. As a result, they not only contribute to arteriosclerosis but are also potent carcinogens that can affect many bodily organs, including the liver, and are linked to various cancers. 

8.  Food preservatives:

Our bodies are negatively impacted by foods that are heavily salted, pickled, or preserved with nitrites and nitrates, which also give meat the desirable pink colour when consumed as in processed meat products (lunch, burgers and sausage). This is because these food preservatives are primarily carcinogenic and when converted to Nitrosamine at high temperatures, they become extremely toxic and cancer-causing.

9.  Hydrogenated oils:

Trans fats, often known as partly hydrogenated oils, are no longer permitted in any product that is sold in grocery shops and restaurants in the United States as of 2015.  Consuming partly hydrogenated oils has been linked to increased risks of colon, prostate, and premenopausal breast cancer in recent research.

 10.  Bad heat treatment of food:

The two primary carcinogens that are present when cooking at high temperatures, particularly over an open flame, are heterocyclic aromatic amines and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Studies have shown that both can alter DNA, which may raise the risk of developing cancer. Burnt meat must therefore be completely prohibited.

NB. Recent researches have reported formation of Acrylamide when starchy foods are cooked at high temperature for long time can increases risk of cancers.