Eat this and you could pay the ultimate price: Cancer

You might be paying twice for the food you eat… especially if it’s highly processed.

Once at the cash register, and once with your health. That’s because if you eat processed food regularly, it can cost you dearly over time by increasing your cancer risk.

And it doesn’t help that in the average grocery store, you’re tempted at virtually every step to load your cart up with foods in colorful packages, tasty new flavors, and… potentially dangerous ingredients. Plus, the prevalence and convenience of fast food restaurants only exacerbates the problem.

Recently, researchers designed a study to measure the toll this type of eating takes on cancer risk. And the results are more shocking than you might imagine — even if you’ve imagined the worst…

Nutrition gets lost in the ultra-processing

Researchers at Sorbonne University in France led an investigation of food’s connection to cancer. They started with data from a large population study that included nearly 105,000 participants with an average age of 43.

Over the course of five years, volunteers completed two dietary questionnaires that tracked their consumption of 3,300 food items.

The results show a high intake of ultra-processed foods, which included:

  • Mass produced packaged breads and buns
  • Sweet or savory packaged snacks
  • Confectionery and desserts
  • Sodas and other sweetened drinks
  • Reconstituted meat products such as meat balls and chicken nuggets
  • Instant noodles and soups
  • Ready-to-eat meals
  • Other food products “made mostly or entirely from sugar, oils, and fats, and other substances not commonly used in culinary preparations such as hydrogenated oils, modified starches, and protein isolates.”

After allowing for cancer risk factors such as age, sex, family history of cancer, etc., the researchers found that every 10 percent increase in the proportion of ultra-processed foods was linked to a 12 percent increase in overall cancer risk.

In some countries, these types of foods make up an estimated 50 percent of total daily energy intake! According to the Sorbonne results, that’s a 62 percent greater risk of developing cancer compared to people with a low intake of processed foods.

The researchers conclude that eating these foods “may drive an increasing burden of cancer in the next decades.”

The single most important thing you can do to prevent cancer

There’s a spot of good news in the Sorbonne results, and it isn’t surprising at all. The researchers found that eating fresh and minimally processed foods was linked with lower overall cancer risk.

That — in a nutshell — is exactly what Dr. Fred Pescatore recommends in his Essential Protocol to a Cancer-Free Future.

Dr. Pescatore’s protocol includes a 23-point Cancer-Free Diet, and one of the most important points is: “Eliminate processed foods.”

Dr. Pescatore elaborates: “Taking packaged, processed foods off your dinner table — and replacing them with fresh, local, whole foods — might be the single most important thing you do in your fight to prevent or reverse cancer.

“If it comes out of a box, bag, or can, don’t eat it. Cook your own meals using fresh ingredients. It’ll take more time. But it could also save your life.”

A wealth of cancer-fighting foods

For details about what not to eat, simply review the description of processed foods in the Sorbonne study I mentioned a moment ago.

And as for the anti-cancer foods to include in your diet, Dr. Pescatore gets much more specific. He says, “Pack your plate with a variety of fresh vegetables. They’re full of cancer-fighting nutrients and fiber, and low in sugar.”

Dr. Pescatore also touches on which types of foods are ideal for the prevention of specific cancers.

For instance, to reduce risk of breast, prostate, bladder, and lung cancers, Dr. Pescatore recommends cruciferous vegetables, which include kale, Bok Choy, arugula, broccoli, radishes, and cauliflower.

And he adds this important tip: “Chopping cruciferous vegetables and allowing them to sit for a few minutes before preparation allows cancer-fighting phytochemicals to convert to more potent and bioavailable forms.”

Diet really does matter… especially when it comes to disease prevention.

To read all of Dr. Pescatore’s 23-point Cancer-Free Diet, I urge you to check out his Essential Protocol to a Cancer-Free Future. This online learning tool gives you all the guidance you’ll ever need to steer clear of cancer, or to help you win a fight against the disease. For more information, or to get started today, simply click here.

SOURCES

“Consumption of ultra-processed foods and cancer risk: results from NutriNet-Santé prospective cohort” BMJ 2018; 360: doi.org/10.1136/bmj.k322