Edible Cancer Sticks
Archives: Diet and Nutrition
You are not going to like this, but I refer to French fries as “edible cancer sticks.” Here’s why…
Polish researchers studied the effect of potato chip consumption on otherwise healthy volunteers. Potato chips and French fries are close cousins. Both contain relatively high concentrations of acrylamide, a potentially carcinogenic compound found in starchy foods that have been cooked at a high temperature.
Fourteen subjects consumed 160 grams of chips daily. That’s about 3/4 of a large bag, containing 157 mg of acrylamide. At the end of four weeks, they all had increased levels of oxidized LDL and C-reactive protein (a measure of inflammation). They also had a significant increase in free radicals and a massive immune system response. It was as if their bodies were being attacked.
The researchers did a follow-up on the subjects four weeks after they stopped eating the edible cancer sticks. Their systems were starting to come back to normal, but hadn’t yet fully recovered.
Nasty stuff.
If you eat fries or chips every day, even if you are eating just a small amount, you are killing yourself slowly. As the Polish study shows, not only are you consuming a potentially carcinogenic substance, you are increasing your risk of heart disease. Now that’s a two-for-one special you should pass on.
[Ed. Note: Extending your life and living out your years in tip-top health is really a matter of making simple lifestyle choices - like choosing salad or fruit instead of chips or fries. For more easy-to-implement ideas about how to live longer and feel better, click here.
In addition to eating better, you can stay fit and burn fat by following fitness expert Craig Ballantyne's Turbulence Training exercise program.]
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