Being healthy is tough. It seems like every day, we hear something different about a new food that either causes or prevents disease, and if you're even remotely concerned about maintaining your health, all that new (and often conflicting) information about nutrition can make your head spin. The media might like to scare you into thinking everything you enjoy eating is secretly killing you, but there are a select few foods you should try to avoid if you're hoping to prevent cancer.
Food can act as poison or medicine, so it's important to pay attention to the things we put into our bodies. These superfoods can actually help prevent and reduce the signs of aging thanks to their high amounts of vitamins and antioxidants, but others can actually make our bodies age faster both inside and out. And with cancer affecting the lives of more and more people every day, it's crucial to make sure we're avoiding the foods that can cause it or make it worse. Unlike coconut oil, which is good for just about everything, many types of foods might benefit your body in some ways, but can actually help the spread of cancer cells in the long run.
Check out these foods that are commonly eaten, but have been proven to help cancer develop and spread. I used to love number 7, but after realizing what it could do to my body, I'm never eating it again!
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1. Processed Meat
All the salt, fat, and additives that make foods like salami, pepperoni, and sausage look and taste delicious also make them hazardous to your health. These meats are packed with sodium nitrates, which have been shown in multiple studies to cause cancer.
2. Refined Sugar
You've probably heard a thousand times that sugar promotes all sorts of health issues, especially those associated with obesity. But refined sugars, especially high-fructose corn syrup, can also speed up cancer cell growth. Cancer essentially feeds off sugar, which is one of many reasons why so many people who have a sweet tooth end up in the hospital.
3. Soft Drinks
Knowing that sugar is a known carcinogen and that soda pop contains a massive amount of sugar, it should come as no surprise that our favorite soft drinks could eventually cause us to find ourselves having a very serious conversation with an oncologist. These popular drinks are loaded with all sorts of synthetic ingredients that can create a whole host of health problems, but the one you should be most concerned about is cancer.
4. Vegetable Oil
Hydrogenated oils are extremely high in Omega-6 fatty acids, which aren't necessarily bad for you in small amounts, but can cause compromise the structure of your cells when consumed in large quantities. These oils are commonly used in cooking, and many of your favorite snacks likely contain them. If you need to fry or saute your food, opt for coconut oil instead of vegetable oil.
5. Red Meat
Just like many foods, red meat isn't bad for you as long as you consume it in moderation. The problems start to appear when you eat it excessively or even just once every few days. Grilled red meats in particular are a known cause of diseases such as colon cancer.
6. Non-Organic Produce
They say an apple a day keeps the doctor away, but that's only true if the apple isn't covered in pesticides. Fruits and veggies are generally great for preventing diseases such as cancer, but if they aren't organic, they could negate some of their own health benefits. If you can't afford to spend all your grocery money on organic produce, at least make sure you're getting organic apples, peaches, nectarines, spinach, and celery, which tend to be the biggest culprits for being laden with toxic pesticides.
7. Microwave Popcorn
Popcorn can be a low-calorie, high-fiber snack, but if you're getting yours from a bag that puffs up in the microwave, you could be doing some serious harm to your body. The popcorn bags are usually lined with perfluorooctanoic acid, which has been shown to cause lots of health problems including infertility and various types of cancers. Opt for organic popcorn you can make on the stove to keep your cells happy and healthy.
8. White Flour
Most of us know that white flour (like many processed foods) can cause obesity and weight-related diseases, but it's also a leading culprit in the rise of cancer we've seen in recent years. It gets its color from synthetic bleaching, and its high glycemic rate can cause blood sugar levels to spike and feed cancer cells.
9. Artificial Sweeteners
The powdery white substance that comes in colorful packages might seem like a better option than sugar, but it can do just as much damage. Not only does it confuse your body into thinking it's consuming real sugar, which can wreak havoc on your insulin levels, but it also contains chemicals that break down in your body and can encourage cancer cell growth.
10. Anything Marked "Low Fat"
Despite what the media made us all believe a few years ago, consuming fat in moderation won't actually make you fat. Fat makes food taste better and fills you up faster, and when food manufacturers take it out, they replace the flavor with sugar, artificial sweeteners, or other additives which can cause your body's cells to go haywire.
11. Alcohol
You've probably heard that a glass of wine contains flavanoids that can help prevent cancer, but alcohol itself is the exact opposite of what you want to drink if you're hoping to keep the disease away. Various studies have revealed that alcohol can cause mouth, liver, colon, rectal, and breast cancer, so make sure you limit your intake to maintain your health.
12. Hot Olive Oil
Olive oil is extremely good for you when drizzled over salads, but if you use it to cook, you might be helping cancer cells grow. Like many oils, olive oil becomes toxic when heated to high temperatures, and consuming foods that have been cooked in it can do just as much, if not more harm than cooking with vegetable oil. To keep carcinogens out of your cooking, use coconut oil instead.
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