One recent study has discovered a major dietary cause of cancer, that’s quite easy to remember and understand. A third of all cancers can be linked to diet, according to Julie Sharp from Cancer Research UK – and meat is the make or break factor in many cancer causing diets, according to new research.
The study was recently published in ‘Cancer Research’, the journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. It used food frequency questionnaires to accumulate information from over half a million participants, over quite a long time period of eight years.
It confirmed what cancer centers in Thailand have known for some time – that certain types of cancers in the small intestine and large intestine are strongly linked with the level of meat consumption.
The mechanisms by which meat causes cancer are getting to be understood. One study indicates that nitrates and nitrites found in processed meats are a large part of the cause.
These chemicals combine with the acid in a human stomach to form nitrosamines. These compounds can be detected in intestinal cancer patients at cancer centers in Thailand and also in trace amounts in the bodies of cancer survivors.
Another compound which requires further investigation is a type of sugar that occurs in high quantities in lamb, beef and pork, but can’t be produced naturally by humans – it’s known as Neu5Gc. The long name is glycolylneuraminic acid, and tests have confirmed that it can be absorbed into the blood vessels.
Tests have also proven that because it’s not a natural substance in the human body, it can elicit an immune response – possibly the reason that cancer is caused by red meat. However, the study also noted that it was possible that humans have developed a tolerance to the substance over many years of a diet with a slowly increasing quantity of meat.
Many cancer causing chemicals are in foods that we eat regularly – which is what makes regular cancer checkups so significant.
They recommend that anyone undergoing gastrointestinal cancer treatment, breast cancer treatment in Thailand or bone cancer treatment in Thailand play it safe, and eat natural and organic foods.
