Reportedly, almost 1.5 million people were diagnosed with some kind of cancer last year. Here we gathered top 20 everyday foods that are suspected of causing cancer. In fact, many of these foods are the ones we eat when trying to eat “healthy.” Oops. How many of these foods do you eat?
20. Farmed Salmon
Thought you were being healthy and eating salmon? Think again. Farmed salmon, fed on unnatural diets, have less of the healthy omega-3 and are contaminated with chemicals, antibiotics, pesticides, and other known carcinogens. Raised in very crowded conditions, they also have 30 times the number of sea lice than wild salmon.
19. Highly Processed White Flours
Refining grains destroys its natural nutrients and has a very high glycemic rate which quickly raises the blood sugar level and insulin levels. Mills now usually bleach flour with a chemical called chlorine gas, a dangerous irritant that is not safe to inhale and in large quantities can be lethal.
18. Frozen and Pre-packaged Foods
17. Canned Tomatoes
Most cans are made with a chemical called bisphenol-A, or BPA which affects the way genes work inside the brain. So most canned foods are suspected of causing cancer, and tomatoes are particularly dangerous due to their high acidity, which seems to cause BPA to leech from the lining of the can into the tomatoes themselves.
16. Light/Diet Anything
Same as the frozen foods–anything labeled “diet” or or “low-fat,” are all chemically processed and generally contain aspartame, which causes many diseases such as cancers, birth defects, and heart problems.
15. Processed Meats
All processed meats, not limited to sausages, hot dogs, and bacon, contain numerous chemicals and preservatives that are damaging to your health. A study showed that those who ate 160 grams or more of processed meats increased their risk of early death as much as 44 percent as opposed to those who ate 20 grams or less.
14. Alcohol
I hate to tell you this, but… Alcohol use is the second leading cause of cancer, only behind tobacco use. Though a moderate consumption of alcohol can be healthy, excessive drinking is known the primary cause of heart failure, stroke, sudden death, female breast cancers and more.
13. Smoked Foods
Smoked foods such as meat or nuts contain considerable amounts of tar which is a known carcinogen.
12. Pickled Foods
Pickled foods, cured by the use of nitrates or nitrites as preservatives as well as color adding, are associated with a greater increase in colorectal cancer and higher rates of stomach cancer.
11. Salted Foods
Also similar to smoked and pickled foods, because those foods use salt to preserve the foods. People who eat a regular diet of highly salted food double their risk of stomach cancer. Also, high salt consumption has been found to be associated with increased risk of pancreatic cancer.
10. Refined Sugars
9. Red Meat
Red meat is good for your health only in small and infrequent amounts. Eating red meat every day, even in a small amount, would increase a man’s risk of dying from cancer by 22 percent and a woman’s 20 percent. A study has found that long-term consumption of red meat significantly increased the amount of colon cancer.
8. Artificial Sweeteners
7. Microwave Popcorn
According to Wikipedia, usual microwave popcorn bags are lined with perfluorooctanoic acid, a toxin linked to infertility in women and increases the risk of kidney, bladder, liver, pancreas and testicular cancers. And most popcorns use soybean oil (a GMO product) and various preservatives such as propyl gallate which can cause stomach problems and skin rashes.
6. Potato Chips
5. Soda
Sodas, loaded with sugar, are a main cause of the nationwide obesity and can lead to inflammation, insulin resistance, and gastro-esophageal reflux disease. Studies have shown that people who drank more than one soda per day had a higher risk of stroke than people who did not drink sodas.
4. Fried Foods
Scientists found that some foods browned through frying, baking or roasting contain a known carcinogen called acrylamide.
3. GMO’s
2. Hydrogenated Oils
1. Non-Organic Fruits
