- Make It Yourself Lavender Heart-Shaped Bath Bombs!
- 20 Things You Never Knew About “Down There”
- 12 Best Foods For Those Suffering From Arthritis Pain
- 12 Personal Hygiene Mistakes Almost Everyone Makes (Mom Never Told You About #4!)
- 15 Medicinal Plants And Herbs From The Cherokee People
- 12 Mind-Blowing Benefits Of Drinking Coconut Water During Pregnancy
- 12 Outstanding Winter Foods That Won’t Fatten You Up Like A Christmas Turkey
Top 5 Cancer Causing Foods and Top 5 Cancer Fighting Foods
Photo credit: bigstock
Cancer is a very complex disease that is caused by numerous factors. Some of them are out of your control, such as genetics, but most of them, such as diet, activity levels, stress levels, smoking, and drinking are well within your control.
In fact, your diet is probably one of the biggest factors that you can control and greatly reduce your risk of cancer. In fact, studies show that of the almost 570,000 cancer deaths that happened in 2010, one third was due to poor nutrition, being overweight, or a lack of exercise, all of which could have been prevented.
Everyone has heard the old “eat 5 servings of fruits and veggies” to help stop cancer, but knowing which fruits and veggies are best at stopping cancer, as well as which foods to avoid, is equally as important.
First let’s look at the top 5 foods you need to avoid if you want to outsmart cancer.
1. Red Meat
Although you don’t have to avoid all red meat, there is an awful lot of evidence that shows that a diet rich in red meats greatly increases your risk of cancer. One study done over a 10 year period found that eating red meat every day (such as a hamburger for lunch or a steak for dinner) increased a woman’s risk of cancer by 20 percent and a man’s risk of dying from cancer by 22 percent. Other research studies show that eating a lot of red meat can lead to an increased risk of colon, prostate, and breast cancer.
In two very large studies done in 2005, one conducted in the US and the other conducted in Europe, showed that those who ate 5 ounces of red meat per day were about 1/3 more likely to develop colon cancer than those who ate less than 1 ounce per day, on average. The European study involved almost a half a million people. They also found that consumption of chicken did not seem to make a difference one way to the other, but that a high consumption of fish seemed to reduce the risk of colon cancer by as much as one third.
The study done in the US contained some vital information about the long term effects of the consumption of red meat. This study involved more than 148,000 subjects between the ages of 50 and 74, and it found that those who at large amounts of processed meats and red meat was linked with a vast increase in the risk of cancer of the rectum and the lower part of the colon.
These studies don’t stand alone, however. There are numerous studies that show this same link. If you want to have red meat, always buy organic, grass fed, antibiotic free, hormone free beef. It’s worth every penny you pay for it.
