In daily life, some small details might become the main killers causing tumors. Let's take a look to see if you've eaten these foods, which can easily lead to tumors.
Overconsumption of Warm-Hot Foods
So-called warm-hot foods refer, on one hand, to foods that are directly too hot and scalding; on the other hand, they refer to foods that are classified as having a warm-hot nature in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Because they are excessively pungent and hot, they can easily damage the mucosal epithelial cells of the digestive tract. Therefore, foods of this nature are most likely to induce tumors of the digestive system.
Overly hot diets are a major cause of esophageal cancer and other digestive tract tumors. Eating food that is too hot can damage and irritate the esophageal mucosal epithelium. Long-term irritation will induce malignant changes in the tissue. The incidence of digestive tract tumors in Chinese people is significantly higher than in Westerners, which is related to the Chinese preference for hot food and the habit of consuming hot soups with every meal, such as vegetable soup and noodle soup. In contrast, Western diets are relatively simple, with hot soups being uncommon and cold drinks like juice and cola being more frequently consumed.
Alcohol is pungent and hot in nature. Long-term drinking is the most common factor in the development of digestive system tumors. The southwestern region of Shandong is a high-incidence area for esophageal cancer, which is related to the local diet's preference for hot and spicy food and alcohol. In fact, as early as 1964, the World Health Organization considered excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages to be related to oral cancer, laryngeal cancer, and esophageal cancer. In separate surveys of Tongxing Township, where liver cancer is relatively prevalent, and Xining Township, where it is less prevalent, in Qidong County, Jiangsu Province, it was found that the liver cancer mortality rate in the former was 2.5 times that of the latter. The two townships are separated by only one road, their natural environments are basically the same, and their smoking rates are also similar. The difference is that people in the high-incidence area love to drink alcohol, while people in the low-incidence area prefer tea.
Foods that are fried, smoked, or grilled also belong to the category of TCM hot-nature foods. Because these foods undergo high-temperature frying and roasting, they also become hot-nature foods. Research has confirmed that long-term consumption of such foods can easily lead to stomach cancer, intestinal cancer, liver cancer, and others.
Just as Chinese people are fond of tea, Westerners generally prefer coffee. After five years of epidemiological investigation, American scholars believe that caffeine has a certain impact on the formation of pancreatic cancer and bladder cancer. People who drink coffee regularly have a 2 to 3 times greater chance of developing these two cancers than those who do not. Among patients with pancreatic cancer, at least half are caused by excessive coffee consumption.
Imbalance of the Five Flavors
TCM holds that diet should be balanced in the five flavors: sweet, bitter, sour, pungent, and salty. Overindulgence in any single flavor can lead to disease. Among the factors causing tumors, excessive rich and greasy food and excessive saltiness are common ones.
Excessive Rich and Greasy Food
Rich and greasy foods in TCM are sweet and greasy foods. From a clinical research perspective, sweet foods, which are starchy and sugary, can easily lead to stomach cancer when consumed in excess. High-fat foods like fatty meat and grease, when consumed in excess, can promote breast cancer, colon cancer, rectal cancer, and pancreatic cancer. From a TCM perspective, tumors fall under the category of "accumulation syndromes." The *Neijing* (Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor) states that accumulation syndromes are the stagnation of body fluids and blood stasis. Rich and greasy diets can easily promote dampness and produce phlegm, which undoubtedly aggravates the accumulation of these pathological products.
From a modern medicine perspective, frequent consumption of a high-fat diet can prompt the liver to secrete more bile. After entering the intestine, primary bile acids in the bile are converted into deoxycholic acid and lithocholic acid by anaerobic bacteria in the intestine. These two substances are both tumor promoters that can cause cancerous changes in the intestinal mucosa. At the same time, fat can also provide a suitable growth environment for various tumors.
Excessive Saltiness
In addition to salt, salty foods also include pickled vegetables, salted fish, cured meat, and other preserved foods. According to relevant studies, the risk of developing esophageal cancer for those who frequently eat preserved foods is 2.79 times higher than for those who rarely consume them. A strong preference for salty food most easily leads to stomach cancer. Japanese fishermen who love salted fish have a relatively high incidence of stomach and esophageal cancer. A fondness for salted fish is also an important factor in causing nasopharyngeal cancer. Researchers in Malaysia found that coastal residents have a higher incidence of nasopharyngeal cancer, which is related to their love for salted fish. A survey in China showed that in high-incidence areas of stomach cancer, the average daily salt intake per person is 50 grams; whereas in low-incidence areas, the average salt intake is only about 6 grams.
In fact, salt itself is not carcinogenic. The cause of carcinogenesis is that a high concentration of salt solution can easily damage the protective layer of the gastric mucosa, causing mucosal erosion or ulcers. In this situation, once exposed to carcinogens, it can promote local cancerous changes in gastric mucosal cells. Salt is an essential substance for the human body, but it should not be consumed in excess. It is generally believed that the normal person's salt intake should be controlled within 6 grams per day.
Moldy Food
Aflatoxin has been recognized as the most potent carcinogen. Aspergillus flavus, which produces aflatoxin, is abundant in moldy grains, corn, and peanuts. This fungus thrives in warm, humid environments. Studies have found that it can induce various tumors in experimental animals. This factor is an important reason for the high incidence of cancer in some regions of Asia and Africa.