Scared of eating food

[scaredgirl86]

You hear all the time that certain foods are bad and cause cancer I’m not sure what I should eat. I binge on bad food when I’m anxious which is all the time and I don’t eat good food and now I’m scared that the way I’ve been eating is gonna cause cancer. I’m trying to think of food good for you but I’m not into that type. I have fear of cancer cells the I know this sounds out there but I’m scared that the bad stuff I eat is gonna cause cancer. I don’t want to worry about this but it’s been a worry of mine. Any advice?

[Crevan]

While eating healthier will certainly prevent many problems, you must remember a lot of what is said about cancer-causing agents in food is either speculation, unfounded, requires crazy high amounts, or has been disproven. This is not to say you shouldn't strive for a healthier diet (believe me, I'm in the same boat! I absolutely love junk food). What has worked for many people is slowly changing their diets. Once you get fully switched to a healthier diet, usually you will find that those foods you once loved don't taste so great anymore!

However, if junk food caused cancer at any speed, there would be a lot more sick college students, that's for sure!

[ankietyjoe]

The way to reduce your chances of cancer as much as possible is to eat fresh, non-processed foods and as much of it to be as organic as possible.

It's as much about what you do eat as what you don't. It's good to avoid junk food as much as possible, but eating it once a week is unlikely to cause an issue. That's assuming you're eating at least your five a day, preferably veg over fruit, but anything is good to start with.

I would also look into intermittent fasting. There's plenty of evidence to suggest that it's the frequency we eat as much as what we eat that causes problems later in life. Giving your digestive system a rest allows it to heal, and also causes a state called autophagy where your body goes into a kind of 'deep cleanse' mode and starts to recycle old or damaged cells. Historically our ancestors were sporadic eaters, eating when food was available and our bodies aren't really designed to digest food 16-20 hours every day.

But, start with eating your five a day first. It's better to really eat ten though.

[utrocket09]

The way to reduce your chances of cancer as much as possible is to eat fresh, non-processed foods and as much of it to be as organic as possible.

It's as much about what you do eat as what you don't. It's good to avoid junk food as much as possible, but eating it once a week is unlikely to cause an issue. That's assuming you're eating at least your five a day, preferably veg over fruit, but anything is good to start with.

I would also look into intermittent fasting. There's plenty of evidence to suggest that it's the frequency we eat as much as what we eat that causes problems later in life. Giving your digestive system a rest allows it to heal, and also causes a state called autophagy where your body goes into a kind of 'deep cleanse' mode and starts to recycle old or damaged cells. Historically our ancestors were sporadic eaters, eating when food was available and our bodies aren't really designed to digest food 16-20 hours every day.

But, start with eating your five a day first. It's better to really eat ten though.


Please don't peddle this garbage. My aunt ate healthy her entire life and developed cancer. You cannot prevent cancer with what you eat.

[Andrash]

Please don't peddle this garbage. My aunt ate healthy her entire life and developed cancer. You cannot prevent cancer with what you eat.

Very true. You can neither cause it nor prevent it. Therefore, as long as it is not in large quantities and as long as you are diversifying your nutrition (not always eating the same) you can eat pretty much everything, from crispy bacon to organic vegetables.

[Fishmanpa]

While I agree that eating healthier is beneficial to your health, it's not the end to end all in cancer prevention. Yes, avoiding processed foods etc. helps but what about all the other things we're exposed to? The skin cancer posters are freaked out due to sun exposure and worry about past exposures. It's no different than those that worry about foods or asbestos or any number of things. What about all the crap you ate up until now? Life is a crap shoot. You could be the healthiest eater, use SPF 100 when you go out and get hit by a car :shrug:

I've said this numerous times here.... I have real health issues that can put me six feet under. Many here are already doing that above ground.

Positive thoughts

[lucymarie]

Diet is a touchy subject and for everyone who tells you what you should eat, someone else will tell you you shouldn't. As far as I'm concerned a balanced, nutritious diet is of value to you regardless of whether or not it can or can't help in terms of cancer. My personal belief is that it can help reduce your risk, in the same way not smoking or drinking excessive amounts of alcohol can. But what you choose to believe and eat is entirely personal choice and noone can give you any guarantee either way.

[jray23]

Life is short. By all means try to eat healthy, but if the effort of trying to do so is causing you this much stress, is it worth it? No diet is going to overcome the negative effects of that!

Take comfortable steps to eat more healthy of course, but be sure to live, rather than simply prolong time alive.

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[MyNameIsTerry]

Cancer research shows diet is important in reduction of risk. That's accepted by the medical professionals so what evidence do those who disagree have to disprove these accepted studies?

I think I will put my faith in the enormous cancer research sector.

[utrocket09]

Cancer research shows diet is important in reduction of risk. That's accepted by the medical professionals so what evidence do those who disagree have to disprove these accepted studies?

I think I will put my faith in the enormous cancer research sector.

It's the fact that you can eat clean and still get cancer. It does not matter what you do in life. I have read some stories of clean eaters, one got breast cancer and the other with lung cancer. You might as well eat what you want and enjoy life. You can cut risk all you want, does not mean a risk is not there.

[jray23]

It's the fact that you can eat clean and still get cancer. It does not matter what you do in life. I have read some stories of clean eaters, one got breast cancer and the other with lung cancer. You might as well eat what you want and enjoy life. You can cut risk all you want, does not mean a risk is not there.Yes, but that is the fundamental misunderstanding of the term "risk" that many people have. It's an odds proposition. Like "30% chance of rain" on the weather forecast does not mean the weatherman predicted rain and got it wrong when it doesn't rain.

Just a kind of a pet peeve of mine as someone who likes gambling and knowing odds. The story of the person eating super healthy and still getting cancer is equivalent to the story of a guy doubling down on an 11 and losing the hand. The result that one time doesn't mean the strategy was incorrect. Or the guy who eats McDonald's and smokes every day for 80 years and dies at 98 from natural causes is like the guy who hits on 17 and somehow doesn't bust. Still the wrong strategy.

That said, if you're haggling so much over your diet that you're causing stress over reducing your cancer risk from 20% down to 19%, I question the value in it. The stress, price of food, and value of life enjoyment has to play a role. I advocate balance - take the big simple steps to significantly improve health and reduce risk - but don't sweat the small stuff like is vegetable A better than vegetable B or "can I eat that extra slice of pizza?".

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[MyNameIsTerry]

It's the fact that you can eat clean and still get cancer. It does not matter what you do in life. I have read some stories of clean eaters, one got breast cancer and the other with lung cancer. You might as well eat what you want and enjoy life. You can cut risk all you want, does not mean a risk is not there.

No one is saying you can create a diet that makes you immune to cancer but surely you are aware there there is accepted research that has found links between poor diets and cancer? The NHS tells us how to make adjustments to reduce our risks.

Eat what you want but it doesn't disprove credible science. I've had to make adjustments due to Hypertension to reduce my risk of stroke. I can still have one regardless of the meds or dietary changes. Or I could shove my head firmly in the sand and run the extra risk because I don't want to listen to the advice of my doctor.

We aren't talking about the constantly misleading stuff in the media we are talking about having a healthy diet that lowers all sorts of risks.

I'll await the evidence that disproves current medical thinking.

[lucymarie]

It's the fact that you can eat clean and still get cancer. It does not matter what you do in life. I have read some stories of clean eaters, one got breast cancer and the other with lung cancer. You might as well eat what you want and enjoy life. You can cut risk all you want, does not mean a risk is not there.

Well of course. There are exceptions to everything, you could also have someone who smoked, drank heavily and ate processed meat their whole life and lived until 101. But the reality of risk reduction is that although there are still exceptions, it’s still less likely and there lies the value of eating healthier. Whilst I agree obsessing to the point of causing anxiety isn’t helpful, I don’t think anyone could argue that it isn’t better to have a lesser risk of disease?

[MyNameIsTerry]

Well of course. There are exceptions to everything, you could also have someone who smoked, drank heavily and ate processed meat their whole life and lived until 101. But the reality of risk reduction is that although there are still exceptions, it’s still less likely and there lies the value of eating healthier. Whilst I agree obsessing to the point of causing anxiety isn’t helpful, I don’t think anyone could argue that it isn’t better to have a lesser risk of disease?

I agree with you on the issue of obsession. Some people are diet fanatics and the balance you speak of is lost. It's like those who want to be <10% body fat ay all the time who follow strict nutritionist guidelines.

Also we have to be careful that our strategies aren't feeding our disorders. Being afraid of cancer and looking at diet means, as well as tackling that fear, using adaptive strategies which are considered healthy and these aren't revolving around that fear as they are more practical and like what the non anxious would do.

[lucymarie]

I agree with you on the issue of obsession. Some people are diet fanatics and the balance you speak of is lost. It's like those who want to be <10% body fat ay all the time who follow strict nutritionist guidelines.

Also we have to be careful that our strategies aren't feeding our disorders. Being afraid of cancer and looking at diet means, as well as tackling that fear, using adaptive strategies which are considered healthy and these aren't revolving around that fear as they are more practical and like what the non anxious would do.

Yes for sure. A few years back I tried eating ‘clean’ and it was an extremely bad idea for someone with OCD. Every single thing I ate made me paranoid, constantly weighing things, worrying if there was a better option etc. Now I’ve gone the other way and comfort eat. I truly believe balance is the key, it does nothing for our mental state having too much or too little of anything.

[MyNameIsTerry]

Yes for sure. A few years back I tried eating ‘clean’ and it was an extremely bad idea for someone with OCD. Every single thing I ate made me paranoid, constantly weighing things, worrying if there was a better option etc. Now I’ve gone the other way and comfort eat. I truly believe balance is the key, it does nothing for our mental state having too much or too little of anything.

Absolutely. I did the same with daily walking. You would find me out in the worst weather and even Xmas Day. It was avoidance in my case, I couldn't just sit about with the anxiety, as well as obsessive behaviour.

I knew a guy who was in the gym daily. Similiar issue but more about loneliness for him I reckon. He must have been prone to so much injury doing that.

Healthy easily becomes unhealthy.

[ankietyjoe]

Please don't peddle this garbage. My aunt ate healthy her entire life and developed cancer. You cannot prevent cancer with what you eat.

Please point to the exact part of any post I made where I stated you could prevent cancer with what you eat.


It's the fact that you can eat clean and still get cancer.

Maybe you are misinformed as to what is 'clean' and what isn't.


No one is saying you can create a diet that makes you immune to cancer but surely you are aware there there is accepted research that has found links between poor diets and cancer? The NHS tells us how to make adjustments to reduce our risks.



I have a friend in the USA who is a research biologist specialising in cancer.

This is a passion of hers, and a source of great frustration as well as the great American pharmaceutical machine lumbers from one wonder drug to the next.

She has absolute cast iron proof, repeatable and illustrative research showing many 'healthy' foods in the diets of millions of people worldwide actually accelerating cancer cells. One of the main culprits is refined vegetable oil, which is incredibly inflammatory. Inflammation being a primary cause of health issues.

When you take away smoking and alcohol, what we eat is THE main factor in your likelihood of developing all disease.

Only a decade ago we were all being told to eat a diet high in carbohydrate and low in fat, especially saturated fat. Now it's pretty much medical fact that low fat diets are not good for you at all. And saturated fat has no effect on heart health whatsoever.

[StephA]

Ahh the great food/cancer debate. Excuse me for taking this a bit personal, but for the first 36 years of my life I ate a healthy, balanced diet, with a bit of junk food just every once in awhile. Hey, I like chocolate! I still eat pretty healthy but life is too short to not enjoy some sweet foods and other stuff every now and then. Anyway, I was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 36, despite my healthy lifestyle and no family history either! Turns out most breast cancer is not hereditary anyway. My Oncoligist who is actually a world renowned researcher says nothing I did or didn’t do caused my cancer! I know none of you meant anything personal, but to get into a debate or whatever you want to call it about diet is unnecessary. Nobody knows what causes cancer. That is a fact. There ARE theories, but no definite answers. I’ve asked my Oncologist, and he’s gone over some of the research with me and his other patients, because one of the first things you think about when you’re diagnosed is “what did I do to get cancer?!” Fact is we didn’t do anything wrong! Yes, eating healthy is important for your overall health, but 9 out of 10 of the women I know in my young cancer survivor support group ate a healthy diet and exercised regularly. My main point here is, enjoy life while you can, and expect to have some bumps in the road. That’s just life!

[ankietyjoe]

This thread is specifically about the concern of foods that potentially cause cancer.

My posts in this thread are to address that specific question.

There are some foods that are actually shown to increase the risk of cancer, in a lab, repeatably. Not directly cause, but increase the risk.

At no point is anybody suggesting that not eating certain things will PREVENT cancer. Nobody has said that.

If a suggestion is made that eating healthy, fresh, organic and non-processed food is met with resistance I am left baffled.

It's like saying that it's possible to get run down crossing a road no matter how careful you are, so you might as well just close your eyes and go for it.

There is NO argument that eating healthily dramatically REDUCES the risk of developing cancer.

[lsgarcia0725]

I've scrolled through Dailymail every morning for a year or so now and from it, I've learned this: everything, theoretically, can lead to something. I saw one article saying that more than x amount of red wine in a week can increase your chance of dementia. Well that scared me. I don't drink but I made a mental note, just in case. The very next week, they ran an article saying that x amount of red wine a week (more or less the same amount as the dementia article) can be good for your heart and increase longevity. What a dilemma. Everything you eat and drink will lead to something. Good or bad. But the chances of you eating a Twinkie every day causing cancer 35 years from now are so so slim. Some people I know, with the worst possible diets, have lived to a ripe old age, while others, with a "healthy diet", ended up with some of the worst health issues, including cancer. A lot of cases of cancer that can be linked to external factors are caused by things like tanning beds, or smoking, or not using sunscreen, or drinking a loooot of alcohol. Not eating junk food, or even just regularly eating foods with preservatives. Best of luck, I know worrying about something so big can feel like you're backed against a corner. It'll be alright, though. If you try to cut out everything that could possibly cause cancer according to this or that study, your diet will be limited, honestly, not to mention you'll be obsessing over it constantly. Just eat what you want and please, try to enjoy it!

[MyNameIsTerry]

I've scrolled through Dailymail every morning for a year or so now and from it, I've learned this: everything, theoretically, can lead to something. I saw one article saying that more than x amount of red wine in a week can increase your chance of dementia. Well that scared me. I don't drink but I made a mental note, just in case. The very next week, they ran an article saying that x amount of red wine a week (more or less the same amount as the dementia article) can be good for your heart and increase longevity. What a dilemma. Everything you eat and drink will lead to something. Good or bad. But the chances of you eating a Twinkie every day causing cancer 35 years from now are so so slim. Some people I know, with the worst possible diets, have lived to a ripe old age, while others, with a "healthy diet", ended up with some of the worst health issues, including cancer. A lot of cases of cancer that can be linked to external factors are caused by things like tanning beds, or smoking, or not using sunscreen, or drinking a loooot of alcohol. Not eating junk food, or even just regularly eating foods with preservatives. Best of luck, I know worrying about something so big can feel like you're backed against a corner. It'll be alright, though. If you try to cut out everything that could possibly cause cancer according to this or that study, your diet will be limited, honestly, not to mention you'll be obsessing over it constantly. Just eat what you want and please, try to enjoy it!

The comedian Russell Howard has a sketch set to We Didn't Start The Fire showing exactly how the DM articles tell everyone normal existence gives you cancer. It made me laugh, it's interesting that it's not just the anxiety community who complain about their click bait tactics with health issues.

[ErinKC]

Only a decade ago we were all being told to eat a diet high in carbohydrate and low in fat, especially saturated fat. Now it's pretty much medical fact that low fat diets are not good for you at all. And saturated fat has no effect on heart health whatsoever.

The take away here is, don't listen to anything the government says!

[ankietyjoe]

The take away here is, don't listen to anything the government says!

I think the take away here is use common sense and eat what humans would have always eaten, as much as possible.

That means foods that are grown naturally, without chemical assistance, without hormones, without being pumped full of antibiotics.

Science has it's place of course, but not really in food. The application of science in food is purely for profit.

For example, USA allows all kinds of GM food that other countries still don't allow. People assume it's so that genetics can be modified to increase the size of the food and give us mutant tomatoes. That's not actually the case though. The modifications are made so that crops are resistant to pesticides and are therefore blanket sprayed with poison, increasing yield.

This is not conspiracy nonsense, it's stuff that actually happens.

Of course there are many sources of stressors to the body that can contribute to cancer - smoking, alcohol, drugs, stress, pollution etc. But, food is administered to your face by yourself several times a day. It's the one thing that you have 100% choice over, and the one thing that contributes most (apart from smoking) to the stress you put your body, digestive and immune system under.

[MyNameIsTerry]

The take away here is, don't listen to anything the government says!

I think that's a given in many ways :winks:

Science does change though frustrating as it can be with the endless about terns on the odd bit if alcohol and like was mentioned earlier you get science in s vacuum where one group have a drink to help x and another say don't to help y.:doh:

[pulisa]

You can eat a "perfect" diet and still get cancer.