20 Cancer Causing Foods You Could Be Eating Everyday Kenya

Check out our list of 20 cancer causing foods to avoid, or at least consume in moderation.

1. Microwave popcorn

Popcorn in general is a relatively healthy snack, so it’s really too bad that the most convenient way of popping it actually makes it extremely unhealthy. The reason is that those microwave bags are lined with a chemical called perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA).

Many studies have revealed that consuming PFOA can cause cancers of the kidney, bladder, liver, pancreas, and testicles.

2. Soda

You already know that soda in general is not the healthiest due to shockingly high levels of sugar, which contributes to weight gain, inflammation, and insulin resistance.

But you may not have realized that soda also contains artificial colorings and chemicals, such as derivative 4-methylimidazole (4-MI), that are known to increase cancer risk.

3. Canned foods

The problem with canned foods is the storage. Almost all aluminum cans are lined with cancer causing bisphenol-A, or BPA for short. Tomatoes and other foods with high acidity are especially dangerous to eat out of a can because the acid tends to leech BPA directly into the food at high levels.

Buy fresh or frozen produce, unless the can is specifically labeled as BPA-free.

4. Potato chips

Not only are chips exceedingly high in fat and sodium, they also contain artificial flavors, preservatives, and food colors that the body just can’t recognize as food.

The method of preparation – frying at high heat – achieves that desirable crispy texture but also creates acrylamide, which is a recognized carcinogen that’s also found in cigarettes.

5. Processed, smoked, and red meats

This list includes things like steak, hamburgers, hot dogs, bacon, sausage, and lunch meat. Processed meats are a problem because they contain preservatives like sodium nitrate, which is great for keeping the product looking fresh but can cause cancer. Smoked meat is dangerous because it takes on tar during the smoking process!

And red meat in general, eaten every day, has been shown in studies to up your cancer risk by as much as 22%.

6. Farmed salmon

Your body needs the healthy Omega-3 fats in most fish, but farmed salmon is fed an unnatural diet full of pesticides, chemicals, antibiotics, and other known carcinogens. As a result, their meat is full of cancer-causing PCBs, mercury, and dioxins. Unfortunately, nearly 60% of salmon in the stores today is farmed.

To be safe, look for labels that specifically indicate wild-caught sockeye salmon.

7. Hydrogenated oils

Vegetable oil sounds like something that should be healthy, but the problem is that it cannot be extracted from its source naturally. The chemical extraction process is what makes it hydrogenated, and then the oil is further colorized and deodorized to make it look palatable to people.

Hydrogenated oils are found in a ton of processed foods to keep them fresher longer, but in the body they affect your cells’ structure and flexibility, which can cause cancer.

8. White flour

The refining process that makes white flour destroys most of the nutrients found naturally in the grains. And worse, mills then whiten the flour by bleaching it with chlorine gas, a chemical that is fatal in large amounts. The finished product has a very high glycemic rate that spikes blood sugar and insulin levels.

This state in the body is thought to feed cancer cells directly, as tumors thrive on sugars in the bloodstream.

9. GMO foods

Genetically modified foods are designed in a lab to be more resistant to pests and stand up to shipping intact. However, there have been no tests on how healthy (or not) these foods are for humans. We do know that in a recent study with rats, all of the participants developed pre-cancerous cell growths within the first 10 days of research.

In America, almost all grains (soybeans, wheat, and corn) are GMOs, but many countries in Europe have banned them.

10. High fructose corn syrup

Simply put, this sweetener is the favorite food of cancer cells. Consuming a lot of it may not cause cancer, but it does allow it to proliferate and grow quickly. Refined sugar in general and HFCS in particular is loaded into most packaged food at an unconscionable level.

Protect yourself by cooking and baking at home so that you can control the added sugar and replace it with healthier alternatives wherever possible.

11. Artificial sweeteners

Made specifically to help people lose weight, these sugar substitutes don’t even do that. They do NOT control blood sugar, and also keep your body from being able to accurately measure daily calorie consumption.

That actually causes you to crave more sweets. And finally, the chemicals in artificial sweeteners, notably aspartame, turn into a deadly toxin called DKP in the body. During digestions, DKP releases further cancer-causing chemicals.

12. Alcohol

Moderate consumption is okay, but too much alcohol has been shown to increase your risk of mouth, esophagus, liver, colon, rectum, and breast cancers. In fact, alcohol consumption thought to be the second leading cause of cancer worldwide (tobacco use is the first).

And sorry ladies, but the risk seems to go up post-menopause. Stick to no more than one glass a day.

13. Non-organic fruits and veggies

Traditionally grown fruits are contaminated with terribly dangerous pesticides like atrazine, thiodicarb, and organophosphates. Atrazine is a chemical known to cause severe health and reproductive issues in humans. Its use is prohibited by law in European countries, but still used every day in the US.

Unfortunately, washing produce does not remove all chemical residue, so it’s best to buy organic when you can.

14. Pickled foods

Pickled foods are typically cured with a combination of nitrates or nitrites, salt, and vinegar. There may also be artificial coloring added. While vinegar itself has some healthful qualities, the high salt level and nitrates/nitrites in pickled foods are really bad for your health. Daily intake of pickled foods has been linked with an increased risk of colorectal and stomach cancers.

15. Hot drinks

You might be feeling depressed at this point that many of your favorite foods are on the cancer-causing list, so let’s wrap up with something easy to avoid. Recent studies have shown that regularly consuming very hot drinks can damage your esophagus and lead to throat cancer.

How hot is too hot? Scientists say about 65 C (149 F), which leads us to wonder who the heck ever drinks their tea that hot.

Unfortunately, a lot of these cancer-causing foods are actually ingredients found in a lot of products we eat on a regular basis. It can be overwhelming to think about avoiding them, especially the comfort foods that seem to help soothe the stresses of daily life.

But rest assured that it only takes a short while of healthful eating to feel a lot better, and you’ll probably notice that your body can’t even tolerate the bad stuff anymore.