Nobody wants to see their dinner plate laden with cancer causing foods. But in this world of Science and Technology, it is highly likely that you’re consuming few of the cancer triggering foods daily. While it is difficult to fight and beat cancer, you can avoid it by removing or limiting the trigger foods from your diet. Some of the food items that have been associated with cancer are - 1. Canned Foods Those Little Jars of pre-made food are very tempting to buy and easy to cook and eat from, but did you know the cans are made from a chemical called Bisphenol-A, or BPA. BPA is known to change the brain and nervous system development in studies done in animals and Humans. This chemical is known to have links to breast cancer and other grave illnesses. 2. Soda Pop Apart from the insane amount of sugar that these fizzy drinks contain, darker colored sodas contain 4-Mel, responsible for its caramel color. It is not just an innocent colorant, but carcinogen, that can cause endometrial cancer, prostate cancer and pancreatic cancer. And Of course, the High Fructose Corn Syrup will give you obesity and its allied diseases. 3. Farmed Salmon Although Salmon is a nutrition dense food, this is true only for Wild Salmons. Farm Raised contain high levels of cancer causing chemical, PCBs. Other than that, farm raised Salmons have high level of inflammation causing Omega 6 Fatty Acids and antibiotics which are key players in causing cancers. 4. Microwave Popcorn Fast, easy and a staple of every pantry, a bag of microwave popcorn might be causing cancer and infertility. The inside lining of popcorn bags contains Perfluorooctanoic Acid. This chemical has been associated with increase in risk of Liver and Prostate cancer. Research suggested that even factory workers making the microwavable popcorn bags had increased cancer mortality. 5. Processed Meats Hot Dogs, ham, Bacon, Sausages and some deli meats, which have been treated in some way to preserve and flavor it, are known to contain chemicals that cause colorectal and stomach cancer. Even research has shown a 17% increase in risk of developing cancer in people who eat processed meat. 6. Potato Chips That Chip and Dip accompanying the Football game is probably giving you cancer and you won’t even know it. Potato Chips are cooked at high temperature. This causes formation of a chemical Acrylamide, which is linked to Breast cancer, Endometrial and Ovarian Cancer. It was found even factory workers working with the compound have developed neurological conditions. 7. Hydrogenated Oils Hydrogenated oils are chemically processed vegetable oils, to increase their shelf life and prevent food cooked in them from going bad soon. Also known as Trans Fats, these oils increase the bad cholesterol and increase inflammation in the body, promoting Breast Cancer, heart disease, Stroke and Diabetes. 8. Pickled and Smoked Food Smoked or Pickled foods, besides tasting delicious, are also packed with carcinogens. Although Smoking is an ancient practice of cooking and adding immeasurable flavor to the food, if not done correctly, leads to chemical reactions in the meat, including formation of PAH, that is linked to causing cancer. Research also showed a potential 50% higher risk of Gastric Cancer with eating commercially pickled foods. These foods contain salt, Nitrate and Nitrite that has been linked to development of Stomach Cancer. 9. Highly Processed White Flours The catchphrase “The Best thing since sliced bread” may still be used as a benchmark, but did you know that the same brad may be giving you cancer? White Flours are not naturally occurring, but are made so by bleaching with Chlorine Gas, which destroys its nutrient value. To sell it as a nutritious food, these flours are topped up with artificial nutrients and vitamins and these trigger the growth of cancer cells. So besides obesity and Heart diseases, processed white flours are giving you cancer too. 10. GMOs GMOs are plants or animals which have a gene inserted into them from another species. If you think your intake of GMOs is negligible, think again. Soybean, Canola (for oil), squash, zucchini, corn are all Genetically Modified Plants. The bacon you love might come from a pig fed on a diet of Genetically Modified Corn. It is believed that the herbicides used for GMOs change the DNA of the plant causing a wide variety of diseases, including cancer of the gut. 11. Refined Sugars Research has shown that eating large amount of refined sugar has increased the risk of esophageal cancer. It is also known that cancer thrives in an acidic environment, and sugar is highly acidic. But eating too much sugar is directly linked to obesity and diabetes, which predispose to 16 types of cancer. 12. Artificial Sweeteners Artificial Sweeteners, make from Sucralose, Aspartame, Saccharin have been found to cause bladder cancer in Mice during researches. It is known to disturb the normal good microbes in human gut, thereby disturbing digestion and having no effect on reducing obesity. 13. Diet Anything If you thought trading the regular food items for diet food will help you reduce weight, you just might be trading the good stuff with cancer. Some Diet foods are high in salt and nitrites that have shown to cause cancer. Also, to reduce the fat and sugar content in a food item, these are replaced with chemicals and food dyes that are widely known to cause cancer. Moreover, these chemicals do not trigger the satiety signals in brain, causing you to eat more of the “Diet” food, thereby increasing your weight. 14. Alcohol Regularly drinking alcohol is found to increase the risk of Mouth, Upper Throat, Esophageal, Breast and Bowel cancer. It does not matter what type of alcohol drink you drink, the alcohol contained in the drink may alter the DNA structure of cells and triggers cancer causing genes. Also, heavy alcohol use has been linked to cancer of the liver. 15. Red Meat Red meat, such as beef, lamb and Pork contain naturally occurring and added chemicals that increase cancer risk of the bowel. They are also high in saturated fats which are directly linked to raising blood cholesterol. 16. Non Organic Fruits The difference between organic and non organic fruits is not because of their nutritional quality, but because non organic fruits have been sprayed with insecticides and pesticides. Fruits have thin skin and these chemicals leech into the fruit and thereby end up in your gut where they can wreck havoc and promote DNA alterations and cancer.