Could some cancers be the cause of the way our food is grown?

Question

It seems that cancer is is becoming more, and i can't understand why so many people get it, does any one think it could be the through some of the food we eat because of chemicals etc manufacturers use? or do you have another theory?

Answer 1

cancer is not one disease

it used to be thought that it was, and therefore one common cause would eventually be found and therefore all cancers eventually could be treated or prevented.

however, the list of potential carcinogens is so long as to be nearly meaningless. it appears that, given the right circumstances and proportions, nearly everything potentially could cause cancer.

some factors to remember:

cancer rates are higher because they are being gathered accurately for the first time in our history

some cancers belong to old age, and we only see them because of the extreme old age so many of us now reach

some cancers are caused by a virus - see cervical cancer

some cancers are hereditary - caused by chromosomal damage

some cancers are due to prolonged intense irritation of cells - see the lip cancer that long-term pipe smokers get

some cancers are caused by chemicals that do not occur naturally

and some cancers are caused by unknown evbents/substances.

thus to say that X causes cancer is a mis-statement, and a partial one at that.

Answer 2

There are many different kinds of cancer and I think that part of the reason for the increase is simply advances in medical technology and diagnosis.

I do think that some may be due to a change in diet and the amount of processed food we consume and the way that food is processed (the additives in it, for example). We also eat far more meat and rather less fresh vegetables than we did 50 years ago. I think there was a period when pesticide residues in food might have been a problem but I believe that that is now under control. I DON'T think that genetic modification in plants is currently an issue!

Air pollution may be another factor which initiates cancer. Especially if we live in a town, the amounts of known carcinogens in the air are quite significant.

Then think of the secondary effects. We don't really know yet what additives and pollution are doing to our DNA so it may be that we and our children are getting more likely to develop cancer as a result of things that happen to the parents, modifying the DNA which is passed on.

I believe that the 'radiation' argument is due to a misunderstanding of what radiation is and how it affects us. Electricity in the environment and in the home creates very low inductive fields. I think there is no evidence to show that that has any effect. There has been a little evidence that HIGH levels of radio frequency radio energy can be damaging (but not necessarily cancer-producing). I don't believe, however, that living near a transmission mast is a problem. The people who act like scared rabbits at the mention of 'radiation' don't understand that it's radioactive radiation, not radio or household electricity, which is a known problem.

Answer 3

I am concerned by the number of very mis-informed answers to this really big question! I noticed only kerangoum and misshelen had written answers that seem sound. Cancer means crab, and was written about by the earliest medical writers, and accounts appear in Hippocratic texts from the 6th century BC.

Cancer is a result of uncontrolled cell growth, which occurs due to damage to the cell DNA. This is sometimes the result of external factors, such as UV radiation causing skin cancer, or analine dyes causing bladder cancer. The chemicals used in food production may be carcinogenic, but not at a high level.

However, even where a known carcinogen is present, cancer doesn't always occur. Not every smoker gets lung cancer, but the longer you smoke for, the higher the risk is. Even without a carcinogen, cells divide, copying their DNA, throughout life. Therefore, a 'mistake' in the copying process can occur without any external factor being present.

Add up the inevitability of copying errors and the presence of numerous, sometimes unknown, sometimes natural and unavoidable carcinogens, and cancer becomes inevitable, provided one lives long enough.

The reason that 'so many people get it' is that we are living longer, dying from fewer preventable diseases, and constantly developing new ways to detect and identify cancers.

Answer 4

I think your assumption does have a deal of credence to it. Further, I am now in a fortunate position to be growing my own vegetables. I know that all they get is manure, water and sunlight. I get my meat locally from a farmer who's sheep and cattle eat only grass and straw and are free to graze in open fields. They're never indoors. Similar thing with poultry. I get fresh trout from the reservoir or rivers when I can (I catch these) and game from local butchers. I am trying to source new ways to eat and drink healthier.

Why do you need to know this?

Because, some years ago I asked the same question you just have. I was lucky enough to have several dietitians close to hand and some of the stories and connections to certain cancers is alarming. All for the perfect looking food on the supermarket shelf!

Keep asking and keep delving because you will be horrified>

Answer 5

A lot of pesticides are proven carcinogens as are preservatives and artificial sweetners.
Don't be fooled if it says 'natural' colour/flavour/preservative. All that means is the chemical originated from a natural source but can then be chemically produced in a lab.
Also all the sh*t people eat leads to a general decrease in health which makes it easier for cancer to develop.

Answer 6

I should think so. Who knows the long term effect growth hormones are being injected in to cattle or put into cattle feed can have on the human system? They do know that certain fats can have carcinogenic effects.
They know there's a link to cancer and car oil. Two people I knew died of a cancer said to be related to this.
They were both garage mechanics.

Answer 7

according to my little understanding of cancer,its any harmful growth in the body that continues to grow and harm the body excluding tumours. therefore i doubt if food alone, has any input in the attaining of cancers.if at all it has an in pact the impact is negligible. i think the environment you live in may result in having cancer pollutant and what no-ts found in different areas have different impacts on different people and the lifestyle of a person can be a very big impact on cancer its here where you can include diet.

Answer 8

I think people don't eat healthy enough. Humans are too hurried to peel an apple, or cook for ourselves. With what we know about nutrition today, we SHOULD be healthier than ever...but, we're not. We eat fast food. Years ago they found out that the breakdown of the molecules in the grease that french fries are cooked in, causes cancer, so after so many uses it needs to be thrown out. But does it get thrown out ?

Answer 9

no. cancer is in the genes. certain things we eat can stave it off. Broccolli does, funnilly enough my favourite, and I smoke none stop. but. No we all live in a chemical world, or rather the so called developed world does. I do not know what causes cancer, and obviousely niether do the bloody doctors, or they would be able to stop it wouldn't they.....

Answer 10

It is a possibility that some of the chemicals that are added to food after it is made, such as preservatives (eg. BHT) can be carcinogenic. However, the observable increase in incidents of cancer is far more likely to be because of better detection and screening techniques.