MEAT PRESERVATIVES LINKED TO BLADDER CANCER

MEAT CHEMICALS COMPOUNDS
MAY BOOST BLADDER CANCER RISK

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The same chemicals that paint your hot dogs pink and keep botulism out of your bologna could also raise your risk of bladder cancer, suggests a new study. Certain compounds used in meat processing may increase the risk of bladder cancer, a new study from the National Institutes of Health and the AARP shows. Based on findings from more than 300,000 people, the researchers point a tentative finger at nitrites and nitrates, compounds added to meat for preservation, color and flavor. But they note that more research is needed to confirm the blame. Each year, about 70,000 Americans are diagnosed with bladder cancer, and more than 2 percent of the population will eventually develop the disease during their lifetime. The team found that the top fifth of participants in terms of processed red meat consumption had about a 30 percent greater risk of being diagnosed with bladder cancer than those whose consumption ranked in the bottom fifth.

Further, people whose diets included the most nitrites and those whose diets had the largest amount of nitrate plus nitrite from processed meats, were also nearly a third more likely to develop bladder cancer, the researchers report in the journal Cancer. In a study that followed more than 300,000 men and women for seven years, dietary nitrite and nitrate, as well as nitrite alone, were associated with an increased risk of bladder cancer among individuals with the highest consumption of processed meat - but the connection was of borderline statistical significance, according to Amanda J. Cross of the National Institutes of Health and colleagues. During the cooking process, nitrites and nitrates combine with other chemicals that are naturally present in meat to form potentially cancer-causing N-nitroso compounds, which may then be excreted through the urinary tract where they can contact the lining of the bladder.


Meat is involved in bladder cancer due to nitrate and nitrite added to processed meat for preservation as well as enhancement of color and flavor, and other compounds such as heterocyclic amines (HCAs), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). These compounds are excreted through the urinary tract, which could lead to the development of this type of cancer.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

Due to their unnatural diet meat-eating human beings are far more susceptible to diseases and disorders as compared to their vegetarian counterparts. Comprehensive investigations by groups such as the National Academy of Sciences have linked meat eating to cancer, and the Journal of American Medicine reports: “90-97% of heart disease could be prevented by a vegetarian diet.” The Bhagavad Gita states that foods such as milk products, grains, fruits, and vegetables increase the duration of life and give strength, health, happiness, and satisfaction. Conversely, foods such as, meat, fish and fowl are putrid, decomposed and unclean. They cause numerous hazards to physical health. The Srimad Bhagavatam, the summum bonum of all Vedic literature, states that meat-eating is one of the four pillars of sinful life.

Śrīpad Caitanya Caran das (BE E&TC) :
“Think Before You Eat”
“The Spiritual Scientist” - Vol. 1. Issue 8.
Bhaktivedanta Academy for Culture and Education (BACE), Pune
http://thespiritualscientist.com/