In one of my very first Daily Dispatches back in 2013, I warned about the dangers of eating processed foods. Including increased cancer risk. I’ve also written a great deal about the other very real causes of cancer, which, of course, don’t get much attention from mainstream government health experts.
So, as one of my readers, it should really come as no surprise to you that a massive, new study published in the prestigious British Medical Journal found that eating processed food dramatically raises your cancer risk. Especially breast cancer risk in women.
This finding just makes sense, when you think about it. And it explains why most cancers skyrocketed during the 20th century. Increasing cancer rates directly correspond to increased consumption of highly processed packaged foods.
Now, let’s look at the details of this study to learn more…
French study clears up any doubt about processed foods
For this study, French researchers at the Université Sorbonne Paris Cité surveyed 104,980 middle-aged men and women about their dietary habits. And they followed them for five years. (Seventy-eight percent of the participants were women. And all the participants were cancer-free at the study’s outset.)
The participants completed five online survey questionnaires, including one on dietary intake. Then, every six months, the researchers followed up with randomly selected participants to fill out 24-hour dietary intake records to determine consumption of 3,300 different food items.
As you might imagine, the findings link consuming a diet of fresh and minimally processed foods — including fruits, vegetables, legumes, rice, pasta, eggs, fish, meat, and milk — with a reduced overall risk of cancer.
Of course, for the past hundred years, studies have consistently linked consumption of fresh vegetables and fruits with a lower risk of cancer. So, that first finding makes complete sense.
But why did it take so long to identify the dietary culprits that increase risk? And let me tell you, the risks were obvious…
Processed foods clearly linked to cancer
Overall, the researchers linked every 10 percent increase in consumption of ultra-processed foods with an 11 percent increase in overall cancer risk.
The results showed a strong dose-response effect. In other words, the more processed foods consumed, the higher the cancer risk.
And, the results were even more striking for breast cancer specifically…
In fact, every 10 percent increase in consumption of ultra-processed foods — especially those that contain a lot of sugar — resulted in a 12 percent increase in breast cancer risk.
Ultra-processed foods on the researcher’s list included:
• packaged, baked goods
• instant, dry noodles
• soup powders
• reconstituted meats
• ultra-processed fats and sauces
• sugary products and drinks
• frozen or shelf-stable ready meals
• and any product that contained mostly sugar, hydrogenated oils, modified starches, and/or protein isolates.
It’s tragic, really.
For decades, the government ran around pursuing absurd theories about what causes breast cancer. They went after all their favorite targets, such as fat, dairy, meat, alcohol, smoking, and even cosmetics. But they never found a real connection between these targets and rapidly increasing breast cancer rates. And they still don’t completely understand or acknowledge what really causes it…
Of course, I told you about nine hormonal causes of breast cancer back in 2014. And just this year, the mainstream finally recognized the striking dangers of oral contraceptives.
And now, maybe they will begin to recognize the REAL dietary causes of cancer.
Sugar is the real culprit
Processed foods increase cancer risk because they contain loads of sugar, which, in my view, is the real culprit for many types of chronic diseases — including cancer.
Ever since the misguided low-fat craze in the 1970s and 1980s, food manufacturers began replacing the fat removed from their products with sugar. This, of course, was in response to the government’s all-out (but all wrong) war against fat.
And adding insult to injury, there’s been a conspiracy to cover up the dangers of sugar for decades…
I vividly recall when I first arrived as a young research scientist at the new intramural Diet and Cancer Research program at the National Cancer Institute (NCI).
The U.S. Congress had directed the National Institutes of Health to finally start looking at the role of diet and nutrition in chronic disease. What’s more, Congress had also directed the National Academy of Sciences’ (NAS) Food and Nutrition Board to compile all of the research documenting the role of nutrition in cancer.
I was astounded that there was virtually nothing in the NAS report about sugar and cancer. After all, I remembered when sugar was considered “bad” for your health — before the “sugar coating” in the 1970s of all the evidence against sugar.
You can learn about the whole, sordid, cover-up story in the January 2018 issue of my Insiders’ Cures newsletter. (If you’re not yet a subscriber, now is the perfect time to become one.)
Of course, sugar isn’t the only problem…
Chemicals, additives, and preservatives
Processed foods also contain artificial colorings, additives, and preservatives to enhance flavor and extend shelf life. And these chemicals just don’t belong in the human body — plain and simple. In fact, decades ago, experimental lab studies began to reveal that chemicals formed during production, processing, and storage of processed foods are carcinogenic.
Of course, critics claim the findings of this study are weak because epidemiological studies don’t typically include “ultra-processed” foods as a category.
Really?
I agree that most previously published epidemiological studies on diet and cancer neglected to actually focus on the obvious culprits of ultra-processed foods and their toxic ingredients.
But that omission represents a weakness of those past studies—not a problem with the new study (which is only a problem for careerist “nutritional epidemiologists” who have been studying the wrong things for four decades). The current study is spot-on for looking at this important factor.
It’s also important to note that the new study involved French participants. Historically, they prefer to eat fresh food. And they’re much more likely to follow a Mediterranean diet.
I remember my French grandmother used to walk every morning to collect fresh fruit and vegetables from the farmer’s market at the center of town. Once or twice a week, she also stopped at the fish or meat market, depending on what was on the menu that day.
The food was fresh. Plus, you could only eat what you “bagged” and carried that day. And all of your family’s food had to fit into one or two small, net grocery bags — the original “reusable” bags.
So, I can only imagine how much worse these study results would be in the U.S., where most people follow a diet filled with more processed foods. Indeed, surveys indicate that up to 50 percent of the American diet comes from highly processed foods.
In this regard, there is no way we are “winning the war on cancer,” as the National Cancer Institute and the American Cancer Society try to claim.
Eat fresh — like my grandmother
Overall, you should concentrate on making most of your meals with fresh, whole foods.
By following these four simple steps, you can prevent the likelihood of many types of cancers (and other chronic disease):
1. Eat a healthy, balanced diet with fresh fruits, vegetables, dairy, meat, and seafood.
2. Avoid sugars, carbs, and processed foods.
3. Take high-quality dietary supplements to make sure you get all the daily vitamins and minerals you need that are missing from modern foods. I’ve written about this in the Daily Dispatch quite often. Get started with these three informative articles I hand-selected from my archives:
• “Four natural powerhouses shown to prevent cancer”
• “10 natural cancer treatments hiding in plain sight”
• “Four simple supplements help combat cancer”
4. For natural approaches to reducing your risk of breast and other cancers, as well as a lifetime of prevention and survival, refer to my online Authentic Anti-Cancer Protocol. To learn more, or to enroll today, simply click here.
Source:
“Consumption of ultra-processed foods and cancer risk: results from NutriNet-Santé prospective cohort,” British Medical Journal, February 14, 2018;360:k322