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15 Cancer-Causing Foods You Should Never Put in Your Mouth Again

There are many dietary changes that you can make in order to improve your health. Avoiding toxins that can and will increase your risks of developing cancer is the best place to start.

This is something you may not think about every day but with nearly two million people diagnosed with some sort of cancer in one year, we should be looking for carcinogens in all of our meals. The foods listed below are some of may that can contain carcinogens. Be aware of the things you and your family are consuming.

1. Canned Tomatoes

Fresh tomatoes are actually something that has been considered one of many different cancer-fighting foods canned tomatoes are nothing like that. When it comes to food in a can you are at risk not just with tomatoes but with all canned food. Most canned foods are lined with a chemical known as BPA (Bisphenol-A.) This is something that can also be found in hard plastics and resins. Several studies have been able to link BPA to cancer as well as infertility, obesity, and diabetes. Unless the can is labeled as BPA free, it almost without a doubt contains BPA.

A study published in May of 2013 by Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences actually showed that BPA affects the way genes work inside the brain of rats. The FDA has even gone so far as to agree that there is an issue with BPS and it is supporting efforts to replace or minimalize the use of it. When the FDA itself is getting involved, there is need to be concerned more so than ever.

Now, the reason why I singled out tomatoes for this one is because tomatoes in a can are believed to be more dangerous than other fruit and veggies in a can. This is because tomatoes are highly acidic and that seems to cause the BPA to leach from the lining of the can into the tomatoes themselves. There is currently no standard when it comes to labeling BPA so just because a can doesn’t say that it has BPA lining does not mean that you are in the clear. Fresh fruit and veggies are the way to go, however, if you must buy canned please avoid canned tomatoes altogether.

2.  Soda and Sports Drinks

These things offer us no nutritional value and contain high fructose corn syrup, dyes, brominated vegetable oil(a flame retardant), and other chemicals. A study published in the American Journal of Nutrition found that people who consumed more than one soda per day were at a higher risk of a stroke when compared to people who did not drink soda. Sodas are loaded with sugar and are an empty source of calories that cause weight gain and are contributing to the epidemic that is obesity.

With artificial colorings and food chemicals like derivative 4-methylimidazole (4-MI) it is no wonder soda has been shown to cause cancer. Soda is also oftentimes the cause of gastro-esophageal reflux disease. This is when the contents of the stomach leak into the esophagus causing pain and burning.

3. Processed Meats

Processed meat is a broad variety and consists of things like sausage, hot dogs, bacon, bologna, lunch meats, etc. Cured meats tend to be higher in nitrates and preservatives that can in large amounts increase your risk of developing stomach cancer as well as some other types of cancer. Processed foods are generally not good for us.

The excessive salts and chemicals used when making these meats are extremely damaging to our health. A study published in the Journal of BMC Medicine showed that one in every seventeen people who were involved in the study died and those who ate one hundred and sixty grams or more a year or processed meats increased their risk of early death as much as forty-four percent within twelve years. This being opposed to those who ate only twenty grams or less. This was no small-scale study, it involved people from ten European countries and went on for almost thirteen years.

4. Farmed Fish

Farmed fish are something we should always avoid. This is something easier said than done when you consider that more than sixty percent of the salmon consumed here in the United States is farm-raised. These fish are fed unnatural diets and are contaminated with chemicals, pesticides, antibiotics, and other known carcinogens. These fish live in extremely crowded conditions and that causes them to have thirty times the number of sea lice than wild fish would have.

Farmed salmon are actually fed chemicals in order to make their meat that washed out reddish pink color that should come naturally when the fish is healthy. Of course, how can these fish be healthy when all their fed is chicken litter? According to Food and Water Watch, farmed fish contain higher levels of chemical pollutants than wild fish. This includes a carcinogen known as PCB. Farmed fish are not good for us in any way.

5. Microwave Popcorn

Sure those tiny bags are convenient, you just stick them in the microwave and go. You wouldn’t think about them being dangerous, would you? They are, these bags are lined with perfluoroalkyl, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), and perfluoroocatane sulfonate (PFOS) in order to prevent the oil from soaking through the packaging. When heated these chemicals leach into the popcorn when ingested they show up as blood contaminants. PFOA has even been associated with tumors in animal organs like the liver, pancreas, testicles, and mammary glands. 

Yes, that’s just the bag when you look at the contents there are even more risks. Most of the manufacturers for microwave popcorn use soybean oil, this being a GMO product. They also use a chemical preservative called propylgallate. It causes stomach problems and rashes. These companies manufacturing the popcorn do not have to mention that they are using GMO products but you can assume given the room for more profit they are using GMO corn.

6. Potato Chips

Potato chips are cheap and they taste god but the negative effects they have on your body make them nowhere near worth it. Potato chips are high in fat and calories. They are filled with artificial flavors and numerous preservatives. These are things our bodies do not need. They are fried in high temperatures in order to make them crispy but this also causes them to make a material referred to as acrylamide, another known carcinogen. This is a carcinogen that is commonly found in cigarettes.

7. Hydrogenated Oils

These are also known as trans fats and are man made. These oils have a chemical structure that has been altered in order to prevent the product from spoiling. According to the Harvard School of Public Health trans fats promote inflammation and are linked to things like heart disease, diabetes, and stroke.  These hydrogenated oils influence our cell membranes’ structure and flexibility something that has been linked to cancer.

8. Smoked, Highly Salted, Or Pickled Foods

Under certain conditions, the nitrates used to cure these foods can undergo chemical changes once inside the body. They can change to N-nitroso and this is something that is associated with a greater increase for developing cancer. Now, smoking foods like meats and nuts can be just as dangerous. These food items when smoked absorb a considerable amount of tar that smoke produces. Tar, as you may know, is a known carcinogen. Picked foods are overly salty and eating any of these types of foods can greatly increase your risk of colorectal cancer and stomach cancer.

These food items when smoked absorb a considerable amount of tar that smoke produces. Tar, as you may know, is a known carcinogen. Picked foods are overly salty and eating any of these types of foods can greatly increase your risk of colorectal cancer and stomach cancer.

9. Highly Processed White Flour 

Refining grains destroys its natural nutrients. Mills no longer take the time to wait for their flour to whiten with time; mills are actually bleaching their flour with a chemical called chlorine gas. The EPA states that chlorine gas is a dangerous irritant that is not safe to inhale and in large quantities can be lethal. White processed flour has a  high glycemic rate which raises the blood sugar level and insulin levels that can be a direct cause of diabetes.

It is also believed that it spreads cancer cells by feeding them directly. This is because cancer tumors feed mostly on the sugar in your bloodstream. When we avoid refined grains like white flour we can starve tumors. White flour is a toxic overload from the beginning. Even as seeds they are treated with fungicides.

10. GMOs

These, for those who are not aware, are foods that have been modified by chemicals and grown with chemicals. The FDA currently has no testing procedure for GMO foods. The only human study ever published showed that the foreign genes present in GM foods transfer to the DNA in bacteria in our digestive systems. We are being used as the lab rats for these things. GMOs do not even have to be listed on food labels please only buy GMO-free products. I could go on for days when it comes to how terrible GMOs are, please click here for more information.

11. Refined Sugars

Refined sugars are known to spike insulin levels as well as be the most preferable food for cancer cells and promotes their growth like nothing else. Cancer feeds on sugar, tumors need sugar in order to thrive and increase in size. It is no surprise as to why cancer is constantly affecting so many people when you look at how many things we ingest that are packed full with refined sugars.

12. Artificial Sweeteners

People tend to use these as a means to lose weight or supplement when they are diabetics. The problem with this is that they do nothing for those with diabetes or who wish to lose weight. Artificial sweeteners actually make it more difficult when it comes to controlling one’s blood sugar levels. Sometimes aspartame (an artificial sweetener) has been found to cause convulsions. These convulsions are often mistaken for insulin reactions.

There is a mountain of evidence that the chemicals making up these sweeteners break down in the body into a deadly toxin called DKP as well. This is a chemical that when processed by the stomach causes cancer. We should avoid aspartame especially as it is the worst of the worst. 

13. Soy Protein Isolate

About ninety-five percent if soybeans grown in the United States used to create soy protein isolate are roundup ready. This means that they have been genetically altered to withstand herbicides. According to the American Dietetic Association, soy protein isolates are known to contain anti-nutrients that can delay the body’s ability to digest food and absorb nutrients into the bloodstream. 

14. Alcohol

Alcohol is the second leading cause of cancer runner-up to tobacco. A moderate or low consumption of alcohol can be healthy however too much can cause serious issues.

15. Non-Organic Fruits and Vegetables

Fruits and veggies that are non-organic are contaminated with several very dangerous pesticides some of which are even banned in some countries. Pesticides are toxic chemicals to animals and humans, washing them does not remove the residue one hundred percent. We should always buy organic.

When it comes to the things we eat we should always avoid anything that could increase our risks of any sort of cancer. While that may be hard for some people to do it is a necessity. We are living in a world where being sick is a way of life. We should not have to live this way.