Are junk food and processed meat paving the way for the increase in cancer?

Article content

With cancer rates on the rise, some experts say now is the best time to avoid junk food and processed meat.

Article content

“We advise people to eat less highly processed foods that are high in saturated fat, sugar and salt,” said Matthew Lambert, a nutritionist and head of health information and promotion at the World Cancer Research Fund, which Daily Mail this week, after the New York Post.

“This includes foods like cakes, cookies, pastries, (chips), sugar-sweetened beverages and fast foods like pizza and burgers,” Lambert said.

Cancer is reported to be a serious disease among young people, especially adults in their thirties.

“It was pretty disturbing for all of us,” Dr. Coral Olazagasti, assistant professor of clinical medical oncology at the University of Miami’s Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, told the post in April.

“In the past, people would have thought that cancer was a disease of older people,” she added. “But in recent years we have seen a trend where cancer is being diagnosed at an increasingly early age.”

Article content

Article content

Although many factors play a role, highly processed foods and processed meat are under particular scrutiny.

Speaking to the American Society of Clinical Oncology last year, Professor Charles Swanton said research had shown that early-stage colon cancer could sometimes be “triggered” by gut bacteria that are more common in people who eat a diet low in fiber and high in sugar.

“What we are seeing in some studies is that some tumors from patients with early-onset colon cancer have mutations that could be triggered by these microbial species,” said Swanton, an oncologist and chief medical officer at Cancer Research UK.

It is believed that these mutations reduce the body’s ability to fight precancerous lesions.

Highly processed foods include packaged goods, beverages, cereals and ready-to-eat products that contain colors, emulsifiers, flavors and other additives. These foods are typically high in sugar, saturated fat and salt and are devoid of vitamins and fiber.

Article content

According to a recent study, these foods make up an estimated 73% of the U.S. food supply, and the average American adult gets over 60% of their daily calories from them.

“These foods have no fiber and contain virtually no vital nutrients. They should only be eaten occasionally and in small amounts,” Lambert said.

Recent research shows that people who eat 10% more ultra-processed foods (UPFs) than others have a 23% higher risk of head and neck cancer.

A diet of junk food was also linked to a 24 percent higher risk of cancer of the esophagus – the tube that connects your throat to your stomach. According to the Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine, esophageal cancer is the sixth leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide.

Article content

The UN International Agency for Research on Cancer has classified processed meat as “carcinogenic to humans” and points out that there is “sufficient evidence from epidemiological studies that consumption of processed meat causes colon cancer.”

The increased risk of cancer could be caused by the nitrates contained in meat, which combine with compounds in the body and thus damage the cells, experts say.

Research from 2015 found that people who eat red meat and processed meat daily have a 40% higher risk of developing colon cancer than those who eat it once a week or less.

“Eating foods that contain preservatives such as nitrates or nitrites, smoked or charred foods, and red meat are clearly associated with cancer risk,” wrote Dr. Nicholas DeVito, assistant professor of medical oncology at Duke University Medical Center, in a recent letter to the editor in STAT News.

DeVito said most of his new patients are under 45.

He blames this worrying trend on poor diets such as “fried foods, red meat and sugary drinks.”

RECOMMENDED VIDEO

We apologize, but this video could not be loaded.

Play video

Article content