EXT PROCESSED FOODS AND CANCER

What are processed foods? Processed foods have been altered from their natural state for convenience and for safety reasons. It is mainly to increase shelf life, so that foods stay fresh longer. If it's boxed, bagged, canned or jarred it is processed.

What are the methods used to process foods?
Canning, freezing, refrigeration, dehydration and aseptic processing. In Aseptic processing, the food product and the package is sterilized separately. In canning, both the item and package are sealed as one and unit and sterilized together.

What are some examples of processed foods?
Examples of processed foods:
1. Canned foods (usually with a lot of sodium in it)
2. White breads and pastas made with refined white flour, not whole grains.
3. Packaged high calorie snack foods- chips and cheese snacks.
4. High fat convenience foods- cans of ravioli.
5. Frozen fish sticks and frozen dinners.
6. Packaged cakes and cookies.
7. Boxed meal mixes.
8. Processed lunch meats (one of the worst)

What is so bad about these foods? These foods are not as healthy as fresh foods. They contain bad fats (trans fats ), saturated fats and a large amount of sodium and sugar, or "empty calories".

What else is in processed foods?
Artificial
• colors
• stabilizers ( used to give the food an even texture)
• emulsifiers (to create a pleasing, consistent blend between
• water soluble and oil soluble components)
• bleaches ( to disinfect)
• texturizers (too keep things crispy and crunchy)
• softeners (to keep bread nice and soft)
• preservatives
• sweeteners
• flavorings
• chemicals to hide odors

What does all of this have to do with cancer ?
Fresh fruits and veggies contain cancer fighting phyto-chemicals that are lacking in processed foods. These natural phyto-chemicals work synergistically to prevent oxidative damage that can lead to free radical production and cellular death. Free radicals cause membrane damage and communication between cells becomes hindered. A single cell does not receive the signal to stop, and it begins to divide and spread, leading to cancer. Processed food lack natural vitamins and minerals that ensure proper growth, vitality, health, prevention or even cure of many chronic diseases such as cancer. Some vitamins and minerals act as antioxidants or are part of antioxidants that occur naturally in our body.

What about the sugar in processed foods?
Sugar feeds cancer cells and also reduces immunity. One teaspoon of sugar reduces immunity by three hours. Cancer cells are being formed everyday, but are removed naturally from our body. Immune cells can not remove cells that are not functioning optimally, including those cells that have been infected by bacteria and viruses. Some bacteria and viruses are known to have a direct link to cancer.

What about the sodium in processed foods?
High sodium has been shown to increase hypertension and cancer. Reducing sodium alone does not work, and one needs to increase potassium intake also. Normally we get twice the amount of sodium than potassium. A ratio of 5:1 potassium to sodium is recommended.

What about the other additives in processed foods?
Other additives in our foods have also been directly linked to many different types of cancer. These additives in processed food lead to allergic reactions and toxicity in our bodies. A good intake of water is one way to cleanse these toxins out of our body.

Why is water intake so important?
With dehydration, the blood becomes thick and saturated with toxins. The toxic wastes accumulate and create an acidic medium. Acidic environments are bad. Since the cells do not have proper oxygenation and nutrition, they change in form and function to survive. They live by fermentation rather than normal oxidative mechanisms and cancer.

In sum:
Avoiding processed foods as much as possible prevents not only cancer, but a host of other diseases. A DASH diet is recommended ( dietary approaches to stop hypertension). This diet focuses on whole food diet made up of vegetables, legumes, and whole grains which are excellent sources of complex carbohydrates, and high in fiber.

This diet prevents not only cancer , but hypertension. It is an excellent alternative to processed foods. Fresh fruits and veggies are actually less expensive than processed foods.