We are already fully aware of the fact that making some changes in our diet are the first and foremost step in improving the overall health. However, although everyone seems to know this, sugary-treat fanatics and fast-food lovers are yet to be convinced.
They might be familiar with the consequences and the effects these food has on their bodies, but they still consume high-sugar and high-fat foods, without having additional doubts about them. A study which was published not long ago, only confirms that the growth of cancer cells is triggered by the consumption of processed foods.
According to Nature Medicine, foods containing processed foods are the main culprit for the growth and spread of cancer tumors. As a matter of fact, the results were so undeniable, that future cancer screening may rely on scanning the body for accumulated sugars for sings of this terrible disease.
This discovery was made after the University College London (UCL) in the U.K. experimented with a new cancer detection method that is based on using a unique form of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The MRI scanner looks particularly for glucose in the body, as it was revealed that cancer tumors feed off sugar. With the help of this method, the scientists found that the scanner lights up brightly as the cells contain high amount of sugar.
As explained by the recent UCL announcement: “The new technique, called ‘glucose chemical exchange saturation transfer’ (glucoCEST), is based on the fact that tumors consume much more glucose (a type of sugar) than normal, healthy tissues in order to sustain their growth.” The scientists added that the tumors appear as bright images on the scanner.
In the traditional scanning for cancer, the presence of tumors is determined by using low-dose radiation injections, as radiation is another well-known fact of cancer. However, if we take into consideration the potential adverse effects, this injection is not the best choice. On the other hand, this method is still effective due to the fact that the things that support and encourage cancerous cells to multiply can also be used for their detection in the body. From now on, the sugar is officially added to the list.
According to Dr. Simon Walker-Samuel, lead researcher of the study from the UCL Center for Advanced Biomedical Imaging (CABI), “The method uses an injection of normal sugar and could offer a cheap, safe alternative to existing methods for detecting tumors, which require the injection of radioactive material.”
The author of the study explains that it was shocking to learn that the glucoCEST method can be effective in the detection of tumors, by relying on the amount of sugar that can be found in “half a standard sized chocolate bar.” This discovery is extremely surprising, as it suggest that even moderate amounts of sugar are able to support cancer proliferation.
UCL is not the only source that links processed sugars with diseases like cancer. Dr. Robert H. Lustig, M.D. and Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), cites that sugar consumption causes most of the chronic illnesses widspread today. Lustig is the author of “Sugar: The Bitter Truth”, and his findings are described in numerous videos.
The main offenders of deadening sugar are the following:
- Fast food
- Sweetened and processed foods
- White sugar
- White flour
Unlike the natural sources of fructose from fruit, when this foods are broken down in the body they increase the release of hormones, such as insulin, and encourage cancerous cells to feed, multiply, and enlarge.
As stated by Dr. Lewis Cantley, head of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) at Harvard University, “What we’re beginning to learn is that insulin can cause adverse effects in various tissues, and a particular concern is cancer.”
He also adds: “If you happen to have a tumor that has insulin receptors on it, then it will get stimulated to take up the glucose that’s in the bloodstream. So rather than going to the fat or to the muscle, the glucose now goes into the tumor, and the tumor uses it to grow.”
These sources reached a conclusion that choosing unprocessed, wholesome, and mainly plant-based foods are the only way of maintaining a healthy body and nourished mind. You should reduce the intake of processed foods, and turn to more greens, plant-based proteins, and vegetables instead. Even though are bodies are indeed capable of healing themselves, it is crucial that we make some changes in order to allow this to happen.
