Wang’s family has not bought MSG for cooking for more than ten years, because she feels that more and more cancer patients in China are caused by eating MSG, which is a hidden “carcinogen” in people’s lives, but is this true? What are the cancer-causing foods in life that should be touched less?
I. Is MSG related to the high incidence of cancer in China?
As a country with large population, the cancer burden in China is also increasing gradually. According to the World Health Organization, there are more than 4.56 million new cancer patients in China in 2020, and more than 3 million patients died due to cancer.
Among them, lung cancer ranks first, with 815563 new lung cancer patients in 2020, accounting for 17.9% of the new cancer population; colorectal cancer ranks second, accounting for 12.2% of the new cancer population, with 555477 new patients; stomach cancer ranks third, with 478,505 new patients, accounting for 10.5%. The next is breast cancer ranked fourth with 416,371 new patients and liver cancer ranked fifth with 41,038 new patients.
Is it really the fault of MSG for the high incidence of cancer?
The 2019 National Cancer Center study identified 23 risk factors, of which smoking, infection, and unhealthy diet were major controllable risk factors in all regions of the country.
Infectious factors included eight types of hepatitis B virus, human papilloma virus, Helicobacter pylori, EBV, human herpes virus, hepatitis C virus, immunodeficiency virus, and Schistosoma chinensis.
Unhealthy dietary habits mainly refer to excessive intake of red meat, processed meat and preserved vegetables, and low intake of fruits, vegetables, dietary fiber and calcium elements.
It can be seen that the harm of MSG is not mentioned separately, and MSG can really cause cancer?
Second, does MSG cause cancer?
The first thing to know is that MSG is not chemically synthesized. The MSG you buy now is actually fermented from sugar cane, starch, beets, etc. There is no chemical synthesis.
Monosodium glutamate is the main ingredient in MSG. When heated above 120 degrees, it may produce pyroglutamate, but in fact, this substance will only make MSG lose its freshness and is not carcinogenic.
So it is recommended to put MSG before starting the pot for better freshness. The World Health Organization has previously classified MSG as one of the safest substance categories, and normal consumption is generally not toxic to the body, so there is no need to worry about MSG causing cancer.
Three, these 4 kinds of cancer-causing food, only to eat less
On the contrary, the following common foods are carcinogenic, and their regular consumption may accelerate the arrival of cancer cells, so they should be eaten as little as possible.
- Moldy food
Moldy food contains aflatoxin, which is a class I carcinogen and can increase the risk of liver cancer even if the intake dose is small. Therefore, all moldy food should be thrown away, if only the moldy part is thrown away, eating the part that is not moldy also has health risks.
- Grilled food
In the process of grilling, carcinogenic benzo(a)pyrene may be produced, covering the surface of food or inhaled into the body, thus increasing the risk of intestinal cancer, stomach cancer and lung cancer, so it is recommended to eat less grilled food.
- Pickled food
There is a large amount of nitrite in pickled food, after intake into the body may form nitrosamines, increasing the risk of intestinal cancer, stomach cancer, etc., so pickled food should also be eaten less. For example, salted fish is considered to be a class I carcinogen.
- Betel nut
Betel nut is a class I carcinogen, and frequent chewing of betel nut is likely to increase the incidence of oral cancer, esophageal cancer, stomach cancer and so on.
Some people attribute the high incidence of cancer in China to MSG, but in fact, MSG does not cause cancer when consumed normally, so there is no need to worry. What we should be careful about is some carcinogens in moldy food, pickled food, barbecued food, betel nut, etc. We should try to stay away from them or eat less of them.
