Carcinogens

jodymaro1

A carcinogen is a substance, organism, or agent that can cause cancer. Carcinogens can be natural or synthetic, physical or biological, and can be found in the environment or created by humans:

Natural: Ultraviolet rays from the sun, certain viruses
Synthetic: Asbestos, cigarette smoke, automobile exhaust fumes
Physical: Ionizing and non-ionizing radiation
Biological: Viruses and bacteria

Most carcinogens work by damaging a cell's DNA, causing mutations. However, exposure to a carcinogen doesn't necessarily mean that cancer will develop. Many factors can influence whether someone exposed to a carcinogen will develop cancer, including: The amount and duration of exposure and The individual's genetic background.
Some examples of carcinogens include:

Processed meats like bacon, salami, pepperoni, and sausage

Nitrosamines, which are found in smoked foods and meats and can cause stomach cancer
Polycyclic hydrocarbons, which are found in cigarette smoke and can cause bladder, lung, oropharynx, kidney, and esophagus cancers
Hydrazine, 1,1-dimethylhydrazine, and 1,2-dimethylhydrazine, which are probable or possible human carcinogens

nossmf

Good PSA!

But good luck removing my pepperoni pizza from my cold, dead hands...

jodymaro1

What is PSA? You're funny! LOL! Good luck ripping bacon out of my hands lol. I don't have it every week but I love it lol

nossmf

Public Service Announcement

Alatariel75

I figure what I breathe involuntarily is just as, if not more, likely to give me cancer than my smallgoods and bacon, so I'm gonna take my chances!

AnnPT77

Avoiding carcinogens can be important, but our own choices (or the consequences of those choices) can also significantly increase our cancer risk.

In terms of relative risk, obesity increases risk of cancer-specific mortality by around 17% (1). Exercise reduces risk, but sedentary behavior (even in a context where we have some exercise activity most days) is an independent risk factor for some cancers. (2)

(1) https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9857053/
(2) https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7931121/

I'm not writing this as a criticism or a "blame the victim" thing. I'm myself a survivor (so far) of an advanced-stage cancer (at age 44) whose likelihood was significantly increased by the fat that I was obese. I'm also a cancer widow, and his risk for that cancer type was increased by some of his lifestyle choices. As many as 30-40% of cancers might have been avoidable through modifiable factors in our lives. (That's in reference (2) above.)

Cancer is a bad outcome. I'm a big believer that we need to own the consequences of our own choices. I also believe that if we want to worry about things like cancer, the most productive focus is things we personally can actually control or at least influence. Some of our environmental factors fall into the "can control or influence" sphere, but many don't. The lifestyle factors are almost totally in our control.

neanderthin

According to the WHO about 10 million people die from cancer worldwide which represents about 2-8% of the 60 million total deaths a year. The WHO use the "Global Burden of Disease Project" for their data and also shows that the consumption of processed meats represents about 34 thousand deaths a year which works out to 0.1% from consuming processed meats. Not exactly the boogie man the WHO or main stream media make it out to be, imo

It also must be noted that the WHO use epidemiological data for that source and with the hundreds of confounders that also contribute to that population it's almost impossible to state what exactly are the main causes of cancer especially the population that consumes the most processed meats might actually do a lot of other things in life that might effect their cancer exposure.

Process meats also make up a huge range of products and if your getting most of your information on this subject from main stream media then nitrites and nitrates are what your going to be hearing about as the main cause and while under high heat exposure these metabolites can be converted to nitrosamines not all processed meats are exposed to the same extent. Both nitrites and nitrates are not carcinogenic, just to be clear.

For example most Italian and many other European imported meats are cured, aged and smoked in many cases which doesn't expose these metabolites to the same extend as high heat and as a percentage in degrees these meats represent about a 10% risk to carcinogens, so not the same as cooking something under a high heat and it's actually the Maillard reaction that then can create these heterocyclic amines (HCAs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are linked to the cancer risk. Other foods like fried foods like potatoes or baked goods like bread, crackers and some veg cooked at high heat can also form HCA's and PAH's, so it's a little more complicated.

The real 900 lb gorilla of processed meats in that 0.1% risk is bacon cooked until crisp which actually represents about 25% of all processed meat consumed in the USA. For me personally I'm a big meat eater and not only do i like my salami's but also love bacon, who doesn't so I suggest that people do there own research and be better informed to make ration decisions regarding what they put in their mouth. This reductive thinking where we break food down into individual metabolites and epidemiology is the cornerstone of western medicine which has done us a disservice and I believe we need to take a more holistic approach to food and our environment before everything we eat is processed for the betterment of our existence.

jodymaro1

Thank you everyone for your comments and input. I was just trying to share what I learned myself. I try to eat uncured meats, organic, and not be in the sun too long and always wear sun exposure. None of us can be 100% perfect on all that I listed above (especially car fumes) but we can only try with wisdom we learn from one another to be the safest and best we can be! I wish everyone the best of health and love! <3