Recently I have had to monitor and adjust my diet, and a part of doing this is doing research on the kinds of food that I eat. While doing came across a very alarming web post. In the post it listed a few food additives and preservatives that have been linked to being carcinogens. Many food that we eat each day are filled with these substances and you very well not even know about it and it has even passed FDA inspections. First I would like to point out that these reports are highly debated and there are many disagreements on a few of these additives/preservatives being linked to cancer.
The very first additive that I will talk about is Monosodium Glutamate or better known to many as MSG. It is a very popular flavoring enhancer and is known by most to be in “Chinese Food.” This is used as a flavor enhancer to many assortments of food products and has been very controversial over the years because of side effects such as migraines and obesity. But upon further research I found something even more astonishing. A few studies and doctors have said that MSG can be connected or at least raise the chances of contracting cancer. This is because many cancers have glutamate receptors and eating food that are high in MSG raises the amount of glutamate in the bloodstream significantly and it stays there for a very long period of time. A doctor states, “The total picture is-if you’re consuming a diet with glutamate in it, particularly high levels, you’re making your cancer grow very rapidly. I refer to it as cancer fertilizer.” Another argument that eating high levels of MSG also leads to high levels of free radicals and lipid peroxidation in tissue and this can eventually lead to activation of cancer genes. Again there is studies are still being studied and debated.
The second food preservative that I will talk about is Sodium Benzoate. This preservative can be most readily found in soft drinks and juices. By itself Sodium Benzoate is not a carcinogen but in the presence of Vitamin C it can create Benzene, which is a known carcinogen. Because Sodium Benzoate is added to many drinks that do contain Vitamin C it can possibly lead to cancer. The FDA recently tested 84 soft drink products and found that 54 of them had some detectable benzene. Some had levels as high as 79.2 ppb and this is alarming because the federal rules specify less than 5 ppb in drinking water. Companies can do this because the FDA only specify and enforce this amount in drinking water and in addition they do not regulate the amount of benzene in products. The third and last food preservative that I will talk about is Butylated Hydroxyanisole (BHA) and the related compound Butylated Hydroxytoluene (BHT). Usually used to preserve fats, and can be found in butter, meats, cereals, chewing gum..etc is a known carcinogen! There have been tests in rats and in high doses it is known to cause cancers. It is thought that the way humans metabolize and oxidative characteristics of BHT and BHA it can contribute to cancer. This is still being debated because is some test in mice have found no cancers and the same metabolizing and oxidative characteristics can be argues in preventing cancer.
After doing all this research and reading about the many harmful substances that can cause cancer I would very much advice people to stay away from these substances even if it is under debate. This can be done easily by eating fresh or organic food. Also before letting anything go into your body I would do research into what is really in it. A practice that I have picked up is to read labels and see what is in the food I eat. In addition I have started to cook my own food from organic and fresh products. It really is up to you to research what you are eating and the effects it can have on your body. You only have one body and you are stuck with it all your life, shouldn’t you take all the precautions necessary and research into what is really going into it?
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Sources:
MSG
http://www.naturalnews.com/001689.html
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/110755.aspx
http://www.whale.to/a/msg_and_cancer.html
Sodium Benzoate
http://www.food.gov.uk/multimedia/pdfs/fsis0606.pdf
http://www.rense.com/general74/benz.htm
BHT and BHA
http://www.healthyeatingadvisor.com/9cancer-causingchemicals.html (Also lists many other substances which can cause cancer, should really read this)
http://chemistry.about.com/od/foodcookingchemistry/a/bha-bht-preservatives.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butylated_hydroxyanisole
