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Could Your Breakfast Give You Cancer?
Health Alert 259
Dear Subscriber:
You knew high-carb foods like breakfast cereals were bad for your waistline. But who thought they could give you cancer?
Today we'll look at what happens to your Cheerios™ when they're processed. And the danger to your health. We'll also discuss healthy ways to get the carbs you need.
* One More Strike Against Cereals *
An alarming report from Stockholm University raises even more concern about processed carbohydrates. The report found cancer-causing agents in a number of cooked foods.1
And the FDA, the British Food Standards Agency and many other countries confirmed high levels of acrylamide in a wide range of foods after baking or frying.
Acrylimide is a white odorless compound that comes from heating starch. Wastewater treatment plant operators use this same compound in the treatment of sewage, waste, and drinking water. And manufacturers use it to produce organic chemicals and dyes. But as the study found it's also a by-product of cooking foods at high temperature. Foods such as potato chips, French fries, bread, rice and cereals.2
The British agency found that some of the products had acrylamide levels 1,280 times higher than international safety limits. Those products included supermarket potato chips and fries, Walkers crisps, crackers, Kellogg's Rice Crispies and Pringles crisps. While raw and boiled potatoes test negative for the chemical, French fries had some of the highest readings.3
The EPA classifies acrylamide as a probable cancer-causing chemical with no safe dose. It causes gene mutations leading to a range of cancers in rats, including breast and uterine cancers among others.4
* How to Get the Good Carbs *
You can get plenty of good carbs from raw fruits, vegetables, eggs and milk. Raw foods are key to your health. Try to get them from organic sources.
At the very least, processed foods lose valuable nutrients. And as this study shows, processed foods can harbor potentially dangerous elements. So dispense with the packaged junk even if the box claims they are healthy. Enjoy your carbs the way Nature made them. Fresh and raw.
To Your Good Health,
Al Sears MD
Sources:
1. Swedish Scientists Find Cancer Agent in Staple Foods; Reuters News: April 23, 2002.
2. Mercola, Joseph Dr.; Does Acrylamide in Common Cooked Foods Cause Cancer?; www.mercola.com
3. New Tests Confirm Acrylamide in American Foods, Center for Science in the Public Interest; June 25 2002
4. Robert Uhlig; World Alert Over Cancer Chemical in Cooked Food; Telegraph.Co.UK, 5/18/2002
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