Unhealthy nutrition and little exercise – these factors are responsible for up to a third of all cancers, estimates the World Health Organization (WHO). They are avoidable. Stiftung Warentest provides an overview of which five foods increase the risk of cancer in particular.
The reasons for the development of cancer are varied and complex: familial predisposition or accidentally mutated cells can be responsible. But there are also avoidable factors, such as being overweight and some unhealthy foods.
Institutions such as the WHO International Agency for Research on Cancer or the European Food Safety Authority rate the risk of such factors. They rely on long-term studies. An overview by Stiftung Warentest from 2019 shows foods that are said to increase the risk of cancer particularly strongly.
1. Sausage, ham and Co.
Processed meat has been classified as carcinogenic by the WHO since 2015. Cured, smoked or salted meat products therefore increase the risk of colon cancer. Sausage, ham and Co. are therefore at the highest cancer risk level – together with tobacco smoking.
Significantly more people die from the consequences of smoking, according to the Stiftung Warentest, there are 6 million. Processed meat is said to be responsible for at least 34,000 deaths.
The consumer organization therefore advises eating as little sausage as possible. Frequent daily consumption of more than 50 grams – that’s about two slices of sausage bread – increases the risk of colon cancer by 18 percent, according to the WHO.
2. Red meat
According to the WHO, steak, cutlet and mince are “probably carcinogenic”, a connection with colon cancer is possible, possibly also with pancreas and prostate cancer.
Red meat includes pork, beef, lamb and goat meat. Stiftung Warentest advises eating a maximum of half a kilo of red meat per week. This is almost as much as a large piece of rump steak or two hip steaks. Note: A well-respected study From September 2019, however, came to the conclusion that red meat is not so unhealthy. However, this did not change the WHO recommendation.
(Photo: “Steak” by Oliver Hallmann under CC-BY-2.0 (flickr))
3. Milk
Milk is also one of the carcinogenic foods. However, only from a certain amount – and only for men: According to the nutritional report 2012 of the German Nutrition Society, the increased calcium in milk could possibly cause prostate cancer in men. Stiftung Warentest therefore advises men not to consume more than 1.5 grams of calcium per day. There is so much in 1.25 liters of milk or 140 grams of hard cheese.
Less milk, on the other hand, can even protect against cancer: those who drink between 0.2 and 0.8 liters per day reduce the risk of colon cancer, and in women it may protect them against breast cancer.
Instead, you can use one of these herbal alternatives to milk, for example.
4. Sugar
Sugar does not pose an immediate cancer risk. However, it can cause cancer indirectly because, if consumed in large quantities, it leads to obesity. Overweight is considered the third largest factor for cancer, according to Stiftung Warentest. According to the WHO, it increases the risk of at least 13 types of cancer. It becomes critical from a body mass index of over 25. The BMI normal weight is between 18.5 and 24.9.
To prevent obesity, Stiftung Warentest advises eating sweets only at special moments, drinking water instead of lemonade – and keeping an eye on your own BMI. Here you can find out how useful the BMI is and how you calculate it.
(Photo: CC0 Public Domain / Pixabay / 9355)
5. Alcohol
Alcohol increases the risk of cancer – no matter how much, according to the WHO. It is responsible for seven types of cancer: in the oral cavity, esophagus, throat, liver, intestine and breast. Only those who do not drink do not take any risks. But it also applies: the more alcohol you drink, the more harmful it is. Occasional binge drinking is more critical than often a glass. Sparkling wine, wine, beer or schnapps – the variety does not matter.
Incidentally, smoking increases the risk even further because alcohol makes the oral mucosa permeable to tobacco pollutants, Stiftung Warentest writes.
If you don’t want to do without alcohol, consumer advocates advise that women should drink a maximum of one drink a day, men a maximum of two. One drink corresponds to 0.1 liters of wine or 0.3 liters of beer.
Healthy eating prevents cancer
All in all: A healthy diet can prevent cancer. Vegetable foods are particularly preferred. Fruit. Vegetables, legumes, and whole grains provide plenty of fiber and phytonutrients that boost digestion and the immune system. If you mainly live vegan or vegetarian, you do something right: “It is estimated that the risk of cancer in people who mainly eat plant-based foods is reduced by 11 percent,” said the WHO.
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