This century has witnessed more processed foods in the history of man, and the trend seems to be gaining more momentum than ever before.
With this trend, there also seems to be an increase in the rate at which people all over the world contract cancer.
The truth is that, most of the food that many consider to be delicious and everyone seems to love are cancer causing foods; and many folks seem to be ignorant of this fact.
In this article, we will have a look at some of the most delicious cancer causing foods in the world, and the alternative healthy replacement for them.
You might discover that your favourite delicacy falls under this cancer causing foods.
Don’t fret it.
These foods are not friendly at all and destroys your body, because the more you consume them, the more prone you are to contracting cancer.
I am not going to scare you with some of the foods that could cause cancer. We already have more than enough of such articles around the world wide web.
Rather, I will be providing you with some amazing alternatives for each of the cancer causing foods that will be listed here.
Let’s get started already!
Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO’s)
Genetically modified organisms (GMOs), are foods that have been artificially modified with chemicals; and a good number of foods these days fall under GMOs label.
However, the top culprit seems to be grains like wheat while corn, sugar and soy follow suit.
As a matter of fact, it is believed that Celiac Disease and a host of other digestive problems that arise from gluten are as a result of genetically modifying wheat; and not actually from the wheat itself.
The main reason why crops are genetically modified is to increase yield; but then comes the side-effects. They are also modified so as to create a product that is sturdy enough to allow for nationwide shipping.
GMOs have been linked with various diseases like birth defects and rapid tumour growth (cancer).
It pays to check out the label of any product you are buying to know if they have been processed or modified. You will see the “GMO-free” label if they are not modified. It’s a pity that almost all grains have been genetically modified these days. These are products like soybeans, corn and wheat.
Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO’s) Replacements
The good thing is that modified grains can be replaced with GMO-Free non-Processed foods. The most common genetically modified crops are corn, soy, canola and sugar beets. These can be easily practically replaced.
- You could go completely Grass-Fed. It is most likely that cattle that has been fed corn and grains consumed GMO.
- YOU COULD REPLACE canola oil with extra-virgin olive oil or coco nut oil.
- You could look for GMO-Free corn starch and corn tortilla chips
- Ensure that you buy products that bear the label “100% Organic” or “GMO-Free”. Anything less than that, steer clear as GMO-Free has become a hot marketing tool.
Microwave Popcorn
Many folks love popcorn just like myself; especially while watching a movie at home or at the cinema as you just casually throw them into your mouth.
However, microwave popcorn are a serious health threat and when I found this out, I had to let go though it was something I loved so much.
The lining of microwave popcorn bags have been linked to infertility, carious tumours and pancreatic cancer.
Whew!
As a matter of fact, microwave popcorn most often ranks as number one in cancer causing foods when it was rated by health experts. Trust me, this is one food you would want to get rid of and replace fast.
Microwave Popcorn Replacements
Having learnt that microwave popcorn is a precursor of troubles to come, what healthy alternative is there; especially for popcorn lovers like myself?
Well, you are in luck as there is replacement for popcorn that is even far better than the microwave popcorn. Having known the dire risks of eating it, it’s better to run and make do with the alternative.
You would need to switch to stovetop or air-popped popcorn.
But how, you may ask.
Again this is really easy. Buy GMO-Free kernels from your favourite popcorn store. You will see the GMO – Free certification right on the front of the bags.
Add some coconut oil to a pan, add some kernels and cover with a lid and in just a couple of minutes, you will have some delicious popcorn that comes with no side effects.
In addition, the coconut oil offers it a delicious unique flavour.
Refined Sugar
Refined sugar is consumed a lot worldwide, and find usage in many industrial and domestic applications.
Refined sugar just seems to be everywhere!
However, refined sugar is known to spike insulin levels in the body thus causing weight gain. In addition, refined sugar is very addictive.
As if that is not bad enough about refined sugar, it is known to feed cancer cells.
Yeah, you read right!
Cancer cells spread very fast as they feed on sweeteners like High-Fructose-Corn Syrup (HFCS). Majority of the processed foods you see around are loaded with HFCS, like packaged cereals, sodas, flavoured beverages and most especially baked goods.
Refined sugar is bad and dangerous to your health and you should totally avoid it if you want to avoid cancer. It is one of the most consumed cancer causing foods anywhere in the world.
Refined Sugar Replacement
The good thing is that there is a suitable replacement for refined sugar. While honey will come to your mind very fast, I would suggest Agave. The reason being that getting access to natural unprocessed honey seems to be very difficult.
Agave looks quite like honey but it’s less viscous; and a very suitable delicious sugar substitute. It is gotten from the sap found in the agave plant; which is the same plant from tequila is borne.
The flavour of agave is very strong, so you have to use less of it. It also comes with a substantial amount of calories.
It’s very hard to find any nutritional value in a sweetener, but not with agave. Agave contains calcium, iron, potassium and magnesium which are essential minerals needed for proper body functioning.
Agave does have substantial calories, but you use less because the flavour is very strong.
To sweeten the deal with agave, it has a lower glycemic index than table sugar, meaning that it won’t spike up your blood sugar levels.
What makes agave astounding is that it’s natural; and not from a test tube!
Farmed Salmon
Fish is a nutritious diet and known to be the healthiest of foods in the world; however farmed salmon though a fish food is one that you should totally avoid as it’s a cancer causing food.
Farm-raised salmons are fed with unnatural foods that contains pesticides, chemicals, antibiotics and many other carcinogens.
You now see why it’s very important that you keep away from farm raised salmons if you really want to keep away from cancer causing foods.
Though it may look appetizing, you sure don’t know what it has been feeding on; unless it was caught in the wild; and these all get transferred to your body when you consume them.
Farmed Salmon Replacement
The best replacement for farm raised salmon is that caught in the wild. It doesn’t only tastes good but it fights cancer as well.
Just as farmed salmon is atop the list of cancer causing foods, wild salmon tops the list too in cancer preventing foods!
You see the analogy here!
Wild salmons are very rich in Vitamin D which helps in the fight against cancerous and precancerous cells.
Vitamin D has been linked to the prevention of several cancers like the cancers of the breast and colon. This might be because Vitamin D helps in blocking the growth of blood vessels that feeds on cancer tumours.
It’s really hard to find foods that are naturally high in Vitamin D, which is why eating loads of wild caught salmons and spending about 20 – 30 minutes a day getting natural sunlight are two of the best ways in fighting and preventing cancer.
Processed Meats
How many times have you salivated over those huge chunks of red well-prepared meat all staring at you?
I guess you know the feelings!
But red meat, especially processed meats tops the list among cancer causing foods. Pregnant women are often told to keep away from eating processed meats like bacon, lunch meats, sausages , baloney and hot dogs; and for good reasons.
The reasons are that processed meats are riddled with preservatives and chemicals that are meant to preserve the freshness so they have the colour of the animals from which they came, but the side effects is that the chemicals and preservatives are bad for your health.
This is one reason why processed meats tops the list in the foods that cause cancer. One of the worst culprits when it comes to cancer causing ingredients are sodium nitrates, and it’s used in processed meats.
They are preservatives that makes the meat look fresh and is a known carcinogen that causes cancer.
Processed Meats Replacement
For a replacement, you might want to check your local whole foods market or organic market. They will often stock up their meat cases with nitrate free meats. Also, it would also be wise to look out for the Nitrate-Free label.
For your information, nitrate free meats generally turn color so make sure you eat them up in a reasonable time.
Non-Organic Produce
Non- organic produce are another group of delicious foods that can cause cancer. For fruits and vegetables that have been contaminated with pesticides and chemicals, no amount of washing can take the chemicals and pesticides off.
Apples fall into this group as well as oranges, strawberries, grapes and cucumbers. These are all big time offenders.
It’s quite easy to detect genetically modified fruits. Visit a farmers market, or compare the fruit or produce you get from the conventional store to that from an organic crop.
With the organic, it’s usually smaller and lower in yield; but the taste could be better and sweeter.
Non-Organic Produce Replacement
A powerful replacement for non-organic produce is the grape fruit. Grape fruit is highly loaded with Vitamin C which helps in preventing cancer causing nitrogen compounds from forming in the body.
In addition, Vitamin C has been associated with reduced risk of colon, bladder, breast, cervical and stomach cancers.
Grape fruit is really effective in the fight against cancer!
Also, a good advice would be to stick to produce with thick skins. Fruits like apples, cucumbers, leafy vegetables and berries are often riddled with chemicals and it’s difficult or impossible to remove the outer skins.
For produce like cabbage, removing the outer layers that could be riddled with chemicals is easy, as well as bananas that needs to be peeled off before eating.
Bagged Chips
Another cancer causing food which almost everyone finds delicious; adults and children alike; are bagged chips. Children are often found chewing away on this, and if you really know the danger here, you would never allow a child to eat bagged chips.
Aside being supper fatty and full of salts, bagged chips are riddled with chemicals. These chemicals includes artificial preservatives, flavours and colours, and even Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) in some cases.
MSG is an excitotoxin, often referred to as a SILENT KILLER and found in crackers, canned foods and even infant formula. MSG excites the body cells to the point of damage or even death.
It could result to Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease, Lou Gehrig’s disease, learning disabilities, brain damage and even more worse ailments.
MSG is highly deadly, and often comes packaged with bagged chips!
The FDA admits:
“Studies have shown that the body uses glutamate, an amino acid, as a nerve impulse transmitter in the brain and that there are glutamate-responsive tissues in other parts of the body, as well.
Abnormal function of glutamate receptors has been linked with certain neurological diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease and Huntington’s chorea. Injections of glutamate in laboratory animals have resulted in damage to nerve cells in the brain.”
Aside bagged chips, potato chips are on top of the list of cancer causing foods because when they are fried at high temperature, they produce a carcinogen called acrylamide.
Acrylamide is the same carcinogen that is present in cigarettes!
Bagged Chips Replacement
Folks have always relished the crunchy, salty and oily goodness that comes with a bag of chips; and having read so far, most of you must have been saying ‘what the hell!’.
Well, for chips lovers, there is a way to satisfy all your crunchy cravings and without the excess sodium and chemicals.
Get into your kitchen and slice up your kale, plantains, taro roots and sweet potatoes and make a whole assortment of fried chips from them.
Easier and safer!
Canned Tomatoes
After reading about this cancer causing food, you might never eat canned tomatoes ever in your life again; and that would be a very great decision as a matter of fact.
Canned foods are known to be lined with a chemical called bisphenol-A, or “BPA”. BPA has been linked to infertility, heart diseases and a host of other diseases.
Acidic foods like tomatoes tends to absorb BPA and they are more dangerous than tuna or black beans. As a matter of fat, it comes with recommendation to avoid feeding children any food that comes with tomatoes canned in it.
Because tomatoes are highly acidic, it actually helps in feeding cancer as cancer cells relish acidity in the body.
Canned Tomatoes Replacement
Getting tasty fresh tomatoes is hard save for few short months in the year, and most of the tomatoes you find in season are often genetically modified to have thick skin so they can be shipped around the country.
Fresh tomatoes are also quite expensive.
This being the case, you could try replacing tomatoes in your diet with sweet potatoes.
Sweet potatoes are rich in beta-carotene, a powerful antioxidant that is also found in carrots and dark leafy vegetables.
Beta-carotene is known to reduce the risk of contracting cancer, and foods that have high beta-carotene in them have been linked to reduce breast cancer by 50% in post-menopausal women.
Aside this, a good tip would be to buy up fresh tomatoes when they are in season, blend and preserve them yourself so you have tomatoes anytime you need them.
True, they might not be as fresh as the ones from the store, but you would be living healthier and preventing cancer. Also, you still get that redness for your sauce or meal which I believe many of you long for.
Fake Sugar
This is another cancer causing food that is consumed by many folks daily. Diet soda, fake sugars and sugarless chewing gums contains the chemical aspartame, which is an artificial sweetener.
It is also added to yoghurts and sugarless energy drinks.
Aspartame is linked to cancers, heart problems and birth defects.
Another bad thing about these fake sugars is that they actually make you to add MORE weight!
To make matters worse, they are addictive as they make you psychologically and physically dependent on the sweet flavour.
You sure don’t want to have anything to do no more with fake sugars.
Fake Sugar Replacement
Because fake sugars are addictive, you will need to break this addiction. This would require you spending a period of time and going raw; about a week or two; or fasting in order to allow your body detoxify and restore your palate.
Also, if you must use sweeteners at all, then consider Stevia or Truvia.
The fake sugar-alternative that I recommend is Pomegranate. Pomegranates is high in ellagic acid, a phytonutrient present in many berries and nuts. Ellagic acid helps with stopping the growth of cancerous cells in the body.
Additionally, instead of consuming fake sugars, pomegranates can be added to water, yogurt, flaxseed or other natural cereal, and even pureed for desserts!
Soda
This is another delicious food that is in the list of top foods that cause cancer; and it’s consumed by many folks daily, due to its addictive nature.
It’s loaded with fake sugars, artificial colour and chemicals like derivative 4-methylimidazole (4-MI).
Its little wonder then that soda pop has been shown to cause cancer. Soda pop tends to acidify the body and ends up feeding cancer cell.
You never know, but the caramel colouring in your soda might well be responsible for the cancer in your body.
Soda Replacement
The best replacement for soda would be water.
Good old fashioned water (H2O) is far more refreshing than that ice cold cancer causing soda that you are now addicted to.
Water not only hydrates the body but helps with digestion as well, though it doesn’t contain any nutrients.
Another alternative would be tea; slimming tea. Tea contains polyphenol compounds which has a lot of benefits. Tea is also high in Cancer-Fighting Catechins.
Aside the above mentioned benefits of tea, it could help with weight loss and weight maintenance.
In conclusion, there is no cure for cancer, but there are many ways through which we could keep our bodies detoxified and help keep it healthier and win in the fight against cancer.
It starts with doing away with all these delicious foods which could cause cancer.
Research Materials Used For This Article and Further Reading: