the chinese character for "cancer" has three "mouths", and cancer is closely related to "eating". recently, doctors at zhejiang provincial people's hospital successively received three patients with gastric cancer. upon questioning, they found that they all had a common eating habit: they all loved to eat this kind of "vegetable"!

three gastric cancer patients have a common habit: they all love to eat this kind of "vegetable"

mr. zou (pseudonym), 76 years old, usually has a good appetite, but recently he feels that his appetite is not as good as before. he feels full after eating very little. the condition gradually becomes so serious that he suffers from severe abdominal bloating as soon as food enters his stomach, and even feels nauseous and wants to vomit.

so, mr. zou's children took him to the hospital for examination. after a gastroscopy, it was found that mr. zou had a tumor at the outlet of his stomach, which caused incomplete obstruction, and it was confirmed that he had gastric cancer with obstruction. it was decided to perform minimally invasive gastric cancer surgery.

wang yuanyu, director of the department of gastroenterology and pancreatic surgery at zhejiang provincial people's hospital, said in an interview with metropolitan express in september 2024:recently, including mr. zou, our department has received three patients with gastric cancer. they have one thing in common: they have long loved to eat pickled vegetables and pickled foods (such as bacon).。

turn out to be,mr. zou is accustomed to having stinky tofu and pickles with his meals and porridge. he also likes moldy amaranth stems, stinky winter melon, moldy thousand sheets, rotten pine vegetables, etc.according to mr. zou himself, "i have been eating these since i was a child. if i don't try them once a day, they always taste bland."

doctor wang yuanyu said, "many people like 'mold' foods with unique flavor after natural fermentation, but these moldy foods often contain too much salt and nitrite. long-term consumption will affect health, and combined with other pathogenic factors, it may increase the risk of gastric cancer." ①

eating pickled vegetables frequently greatly increases the risk of cancer

pickled vegetables are mostly vegetables that are preserved and seasoned with salt, such as pickled beans, pickled cucumbers, pickled radish strips, pickled mustard tubers, northeastern sauerkraut... pickled vegetables are an indispensable delicacy on many family tables, especially as a must-have for porridge and instant noodles.

however, it is recommended to eat less pickled vegetables, as they are really harmful to your health and may even cause cancer in severe cases.

in 2023, a research team from zhejiang university published a study involving 440,000 chinese people in the british medical council internal medicine, showing that regular consumption of pickled vegetables may increase the risk of hemorrhagic stroke andesophageal cancerrisk of death.

the data results show that compared with people who do not eat pickled vegetables, people who eat pickled vegetables 1 to 3 days a week have a 32% higher risk of death from hemorrhagic stroke.

in addition, frequent consumption of pickled vegetables was associated with a higher risk of death from digestive tract cancers, primarily esophageal cancer. participants who frequently ate pickled vegetables had a 45% higher risk of death from esophageal cancer.

other studies have shown that pickled food is closely related to digestive tract cancer! a meta-analysis study published in cancer in 2020 found that an increase of 40 grams/day in pickled vegetable intake increased the risk of gastric cancer by 15%.

eating too much of these vegetables will promote the growth of cancer cells!

vegetables are rich in dietary fiber, vitamins, carotenoids and other nutrients. however, not all vegetables are good for health. incorrect preparation methods may increase the risk of cancer, especially the following three kinds of vegetables. we should be careful!

1. leftovers

in order to save food, many people often put uneaten meals in the refrigerator and continue to eat them for the second or third meal. long-term consumption of overnight dishes and moldy food is prone to excessive intake of nitrites, which can induce digestive tract cancer. many gastroenterologists have reminded that if you eat leftovers occasionally, it is generally not a big problem, but if you are reluctant to throw away leftovers for a long time and have a habit of eating leftovers frequently, it will definitely increase the risk of cancer.

2. vegetables fried in smoking oil

liu shaowei, a member of the expert group of the shanghai food safety research association, published an article on the wechat public account of popular science china in 2021, saying that many people like to wait until the oil is hot and smoking before putting the vegetables in when cooking, thinking that the dishes cooked in this way taste good, but in fact, starchy foods are prone to produce acrylamide when exposed to high temperatures, which is a class 2a carcinogen. ④ therefore, you should also be careful when cooking root vegetables.

3. fried vegetables

many people at home usually save the remaining oil for cooking after frying food in order not to waste it. but this is really not recommended!

registered dietitian xue qingxin pointed out in an article published in popular science china in 2024 that oil that has been used for frying food and then repeatedly used for high-temperature cooking is considered "reused oil". frequent consumption of such oil is harmful to the body. oils and fats that have been processed at high temperatures and repeatedly "reused" can easily produce a variety of carcinogens, such as acrylamide, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and heterocyclic amines. ⑤

4. too greasy dishes

fried eggplant boxes, roasted eggplant, dry-pot cauliflower, candied sweet potato... these dishes all have one thing in common - they are "greasy"! greasy dishes are definitely high in fat, and a high-fat diet is precisely a high-risk factor for colorectal cancer.

yu kang, director of the department of clinical nutrition at peking union medical college hospital, published an article on his personal wechat public account in 2023 explaining that this is because many carcinogens are fat-soluble. therefore, the more fat you consume from your diet, the greater the risk of dissolving and absorbing carcinogens.

in addition, a high-fat diet can increase the secretion of bile acid in the intestine, which can potentially irritate and damage the intestinal mucosa. if this irritation and damage is sustained for a long time, it may induce the formation of tumor cells and lead to colorectal cancer.

cancer cells are most afraid of you eating these vegetables!

1. cruciferous vegetables

professor fan zhihong of the school of food science and engineering at china agricultural university published an article in health times in 2023, pointing out that kale, rapeseed, cauliflower, broccoli, etc. are all cruciferous vegetables. according to current epidemiological studies, eating 100 grams of cruciferous vegetables a day can help prevent certain cancers. it is mainly the glucosinolates in them that are at work. generally, the darker the color and the stronger the taste of the cruciferous vegetables, the higher the glucosinolate content. if the thyroid function is normal, there is no need to limit the intake of cruciferous vegetables. ⑦

2. vegetables rich in vitamin c

zhang kai, chief physician of the cancer prevention department of the cancer hospital of the chinese academy of medical sciences, published an article in cctv life circle in 2022, pointing out that vitamin c has strong antioxidant properties, and a reasonable intake of vitamin c can help prevent gastric cancer. this is because vitamin c can inhibit the conversion of nitrite into nitrosamines, which is one of the causes of gastric cancer.

foods rich in vitamin c: mainly fresh fruits and vegetables, such as green peppers, radish leaves, mustard greens, sour dates, fresh dates, kiwis, citrus, etc. generally speaking, the content of vitamin c in vegetables is greater than that in fruits.

note: vitamin c is relatively delicate and is easily lost in high temperatures or water. vegetables should be washed before cutting and stir-fried over high heat, or blanched or served cold.⑧

3. liliaceae vegetables

dr. zhang kai said that allicin is found in garlic, green onions, onions, leeks and other lily vegetables. lily vegetables help reduce the risk of colon cancer, prostate cancer, esophageal cancer, stomach cancer and other cancers. these vegetables can be eaten raw or stir-fried for a short time.⑧

4. vegetables rich in carotene

in 2023, a study published in the international journal "critical reviews in food science and nutrition" found that eating carrots every day can effectively reduce the risk of cancer. an analysis of carrot and alpha-carotene intake found that people who consumed the most had a 10% lower incidence of cancer compared to those who consumed the least.

specifically, for carrot intake, compared with people who do not eat carrots, consuming 400 grams of carrots per week can reduce the risk of cancer by 20%, and consuming only 60 grams per week can also reduce the risk of cancer by 4%.

5. vegetables rich in lycopene

yue hong, an associate researcher at the beijing institute of nutrition sources, published an article in cctv life circle in 2022, introducing that lycopene is a very important antioxidant in the body that can enhance the body's anti-inflammatory ability and help the body's immunity reach a better state.

lycopene can protect cardiovascular health, prevent heart disease and arteriosclerosis; it can remove free radicals in the body that cause aging and disease; it can improve human immunity and help delay aging; it can help prevent and improve prostate hyperplasia, prostatitis and other urinary system diseases, and it is helpful in preventing and treating prostate cancer, digestive tract cancer,breast cancer, endometrial cancer and other cancers. ⑩‌ vegetables rich in lycopene include tomatoes, red peppers, carrots, sweet peppers, etc.

this article is compiled from:

①2024-09-02 metropolitan express·chengshi interactive "three consecutive gastric cancer patients all love to eat this kind of food! doctor: these bad eating habits need to be changed"

②Zhuang, P., Wu, F., Liu, X. et al. Preserved vegetable consumption and its association with mortality among 440,415 people in the China Kadoorie Biobank. BMC Med 21, 135 (2023)

③Yoo JY, Cho HJ, et al. Pickled vegetable and salted fish intake and the risk of gastric cancer: two prospective cohort studies and a meta-analysis. Cancers. 2020;12(4):996.

④2021-07-30 science popularization china "attention! these four habits when cooking may double the carcinogens! tell your family quickly"

⑤2024-01-23 popular science china "toxic and carcinogenic, as harmful as gutter oil! many families still use it to cook"

⑥2023-07-02 eat three meals a day "getting to the bottom of it | what kind of food is likely to cause colorectal cancer? "

⑦2023-11-17 health times "eat a pound of vegetables every day"

⑧2022-09-13cctv life circle "these 6 anti-cancer nutrients are hidden on your dining table. eating well can also prevent cancer! "

⑨Carrot intake is consistently negatively associated with cancer incidence: A systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective observational studies. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 2023 Dec 17:1-13.

⑩2022-06-26cctv life circle "this toxin has a carcinogenic risk! it is actually related to the tomatoes you often eat"