Junk Food and Cancer Risk

The news this week carried a story about how regular consumption of junk food might increase cancer risk.

The French study, which was published in the British Medical Journal, looked at more than 100,000 people with an average age of 42. It looked at the association between ultra-processed food and the overall risk of breast, prostate and colorectal cancer, adjusting for known risk factors.

The study found that ultra-processed food intake was associated with higher overall cancer risk. A 10 percent increase in the amount of ultra-processed foods in the diet was associated with a 10 percent increase in the risks of overall and breast cancer. The study’s authors said further research was needed to understand the effects of food processing in this association.

The foods experts warn could be linked to cancer include:

• Fizzy drinks
• Crisps
• Biscuits
• Chocolate bars and sweets
• Instant noodles and soups
• Ready meals
• Packaged breads and rolls
• Savoury or sweet packet snacks.

One of the advantages of following a low-carb diet is that it’s difficult and expensive for food manufacturers to offer ready-made alternatives, which could be one of the reasons why it’s never soared in popularity in the same way veganism has, for instance.

If you embark on a low-carb diet, you’re almost forced to cook from scratch. There are ‘junk food’ low-carb alternatives such as the bars that market themselves that way, but they are prohibitively expensive and not that nice.

The foods listed above (except for diet fizzy drinks) are all high in sugar and carbs. Researchers recommend people eat more fruit and veg to minimise cancer risk. Welcome to the low-carb world and the Diabetes Diet, full of salads, broccoli, cabbage, aubergines, peppers, courgettes, beans, berries, apples and more!