The causes of malignant tumors are the result of the long-term combined effects of various factors, which mainly include living environment factors, the body's own immunity, metabolic function, and genetic factors. Diet is also one of the factors that can cause cancer. "However, regardless, a scientific and balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle are both necessary conditions for maintaining physical health." So, let's take a look at which foods should not be eaten in excess, and which foods, when consumed in excess, can easily lead to cancer.
1. Barbecue: Fats contain various carcinogens
When grilling over an open flame, the fat from the barbecue dripping onto the hot charcoal produces carcinogenic substances—polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, including more than 400 carcinogenic compounds such as benzo[a]pyrene and tetramethylbenzene. Some of these carcinogenic compounds enter the human digestive tract through the barbecue, and some enter the human respiratory tract through the barbecue smoke. After these carcinogens accumulate in the body, they can induce stomach cancer, intestinal cancer, breast cancer, colon cancer, etc. Relevant data shows that women who often eat barbecue have twice the chance of developing breast cancer compared to women who do not eat barbecue foods.
To eat barbecue healthily, first, you should choose the correct grilling method, opting for oven grilling or electric grilling. Second, eat less fatty meat. You can grill it with the skin on, but you should remove the skin before eating. The burnt parts must not be eaten, as they contain the most carcinogens. Many people like to drink a few glasses of ice beer while eating barbecue, which also increases the absorption of carcinogens invisibly.
2. Puffed Foods: Eating too much can easily lead to excessive heavy metals
Popcorn may be the earliest puffed food people ate, but not many people know that popcorn made in a high-temperature, sealed lead pot will contain a lot of lead after it comes out of the pot. Puffed foods contain heavy metals for two reasons: first, processing such foods often requires the addition of additives such as leavening agents; second, the food is processed through metal pipes, which usually contain lead and tin alloys. At high temperatures, these lead compounds can vaporize, and the vaporized lead then contaminates the puffed food.
Frequently eating puffed foods is very harmful to children, as lead will slowly accumulate in the blood and bones and is difficult to metabolize naturally. When harmful heavy metals accumulate to a certain level, they can cause significant damage to the body's nervous, digestive, and hematopoietic systems, and can especially lead to cognitive impairment or a decline in thinking ability.
In pursuit of texture, some puffed foods are coated with hydrogenated oils. The longer the baking time and the higher the temperature, the more trans fatty acids are produced. Trans fatty acids can be harmful to the human body and ultimately can lead to an increased incidence of obesity, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, diabetes, bronchial asthma, allergic rhinitis, some malignant tumors, and dementia.
3. Fried Foods: Making you sick and slowing your mind
When the oil used for frying food is used many times, it becomes what we commonly call "reused oil." Reused oil contains a large amount of trans fatty acids, which can cause great harm to the human body, such as fatty liver, high blood pressure, cholecystitis, stomach diseases, diabetes, obesity, and it may even increase the risk of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases and various cancers.
Youtiao (fried dough sticks) are a breakfast loved by many people. However, in pursuit of texture, unscrupulous operators will add leavening agents containing potassium aluminum sulfate or ammonium aluminum sulfate to the youtiao. If you eat too much food containing this kind of leavening agent, the easiest damage is to brain tissue, which may lead to the occurrence of senile dementia.